The Origin of Hope
by cyathula
Summary: First, it was about Kratos and Anna... now the whole gang —younger generation,too— must put the world back together per Origin's way! My ever hopeful AU! No relation to TOS:DotNW. I never thought I'd come this far! FORTY-FOUR up!
1. Chapter 1: Hope

**First Fic! Okay, I'm sure I just struck fear in the hearts of many that have come to see what this is all about! Anyway, I absolutely welcome any constructive criticism, typo/grammar-mistakes, suggestions, ideas, anything...but please no flames. **

**I'm still haven't entirely figured out how or where this fic will go yet, so I'm still feeling my way around.**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia, if I did, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction on it. **

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**The Origin of Hope

Chapter 1**  
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Two Days To Hima.

"Kratos..." Anna said quietly, her hand on her stomach. She and Kratos were walking in a forest, under the light of the moon, making their way to Hima. Noishe walked beside her, giving her a whine once in a while.

The journey from Luin had been long and tiring. After Kratos rescued her from the Asgard ranch five months ago, they hid in various towns and forests, always in fear of any agents of Cruxis that might finally hunt them down.

Anna's ex-sphere was near completion, and she needed a key-crest immediately before it started draining her of her life energy instead of just her mana. He estimated another year at most before then, went from town to town inquiring where he could find a dwarf above surface (and not involved with Cruxis). Kratos finally got the answer he needed. and while the information on where the dwarf was may still be sketchy, it was the best bet he could hope for. Their goal was Iselia, where there was purported to be a dwarf that resided near there.

"Yes?" Kratos said, a worried look on his face. "Are you having stomach pains? You've been holding on to your stomach quite often lately."

"No, I think..." Anna trailed off again.

Kratos looked at her, worried at how uncomfortable she looked.

"I think I may be pregnant..." Anna looked away, dreading his response. She had been quiet these past few weeks, ever since she realized her monthly cycle had past...twice now. Since she missed the first cycle, she would increasingly alternate between excitement and joy, and absolute terror and sadness.

They were on the run, and it was hard enough for Kratos to protect Anna and himself, without a baby to worry about as well.

Kratos felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. He immediately stopped walking while the information was sinking in. He should have known this was going to be a possibility... what was he thinking before...or not? Actually he was amazed at himself... who knew that 4000 years later, he was still capable! He was had been so sure that becoming an angel would stop the process. In a way, he was actually happy, happy that a lifeless angel could still give life. He smirked.

Anna had been standing next to him, looking at the ground, waiting for a response for about 5 minutes. Every minute, she got more agitated, knowing whatever was going through Kratos' head was probably getting worse. She finally looked up ready to say something but saw the smirk on his face, which took her completely by surprise.

"How long have you known this?" He finally asked.

"I think two months have past now..." She replied, barely above a whisper.

Kratos lifted his eyes to the stars. "Anna, this just means that must get to Iselia even more urgently than before."

Anna stared at him. That's it? He took it amazingly well!

"Kratos, no, but I'm so afraid... this will complicate an already complicated situation... I'm so sorry, I'm sorry..." She rung her hands.

"I'm as much to blame as you, Anna. Let us hurry." Kratos took her and placed her on Noishe. "Now, no more walking for you anymore."

Anna smiled, her eyes moist. She couldn't ask for a better half. Not only was her man more than a man, he was an angel, her protector, and seemed to give the right response most of the time. Not to mention of course, that she wanted to melt at his good looks whenever she looked over. Kratos was an extremely reticent, quiet man and almost always seemed depressed. Anna took it upon herself to make him smile at least five times a day. She felt so fortunate that she had the power to make him happier.

"Would you want it to be a girl or a boy?" Anna asked suddenly.

Kratos gave her a strange look that clearly implied that it was not the next question he was expecting. "I would be happy for either possibility. Of course a boy would be stronger, but I could train a girl just as well, when the time comes..."

Anna stayed silent. Training wouldn't begin for a few years... would she even be alive after a few years? How much longer could she live? She closed her eyes as tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Everything will work out... don't worry..." Kratos said, looking at her strangely.

"Would... would I even live to see him grow...?" Anna blurted out.

"Yes you will! Don't for a minute think that you'll die!"

"If... if I don't survive... Kratos, promise me that you'll... you'll take care of him..."

"What are you rambling about? Do you think I'll just leave our son... or daughter somewhere and just leave? Anna, get ahold of yourself, you're not going to die, I won't let you..."

On they went in silence, leaving Kratos to ponder again, the shaky future he brought upon both of them. Things were definitely more complicated now. Would they ever be free of Cruxis if he keeps running? It would only be a matter of time before they were caught, it cannot be a permanent situation... especially with a child. What kind of life will the child have? No friends? Always hiding? Always in fear?

Kratos looked up at the stars that he always looked to to give him comfort, and sighed. He knew the only way to stop the madness was to find a way to end Cruxis once and for all. He already chose the path against them by freeing Anna. Now he needed to make it permanent. How was he going to do that? First, Mithos had incredible power through all the pacts he made with all the summon spirits... and then Origin created the Eternal Sword for him... Kratos may be the seal for Origin, but he had no right to the sword which Origin bestowed upon Mithos. In fact Mithos made sure no human had the right.

_Kratos..._

Kratos snapped his head up, who was that? Origin? But he didn't have a pact with Origin, how could he hear him?

_Kratos, it is I, Origin... Yes, you are my seal, not my pact-maker, however, in these trying circumstances, I greatly want to aid you in correcting the folly that I now regret concerning Mithos... There is a way for humans to wield the Eternal Sword, I formed this loophole just in case... Forge the Ring of the Pact, call upon me, and the bearer will have the right. It requires three items however... listen carefully..._

Anna looked back at Kratos, who had suddenly stopped and had a look of intense concentration and shock. "Kratos? Are you okay...?" She received no reply. So she stopped Noishe and waited.

_...First, Aionis... to melt Aionis, you must gather the Sacred Wood... then you must find Adamantite to polish it... If you succeed, I see no need for you give up your life to release the seal. Go forth Kratos, you will find support in a friend and hope in your blood... do not fail..._

Kratos stood still, committing the needed items to memory. Then he looked up.

"Anna, the lord of all Summon Spirits just spoke to me... there is a way! There is a way to end this madness! Origin is on our side, we have hope!"

"How...?"

"I am the seal for Origin, the lord of all Summon Spirits, I am truly amazed... and honored, that he would speak to me, who is not his pact-maker. The situation must be grave indeed, if he would even do this..."

Anna didn't quite understand, since he kept answering in half-answers, but whatever she heard, the sudden brightness in Kratos' eyes were no lie to the hope and excitement he suddenly had. She smiled, her spirits rising as well.

"What did he say? How will we do this?"

"First, still more importantly, we must get to Iselia and find the dwarf to make you a key crest. I heard that the town of Iselia has some damn treaty with the Desians to not attack them if they leave their ranch alone. I am hoping it may prove to be the safest place for you... I know it must seem an obvious place for them to check... but perhaps..."

"Perhaps?"

"Perhaps, if I don't stay with you..."

"No, it won't make a difference, they will find a way to find both of us, even if we are apart! I think... the only way to end this is for me to die... or you to go back to Cruxis." Anna couldn't believe their roles have reversed so sharply. Usually she was the hopeful one, but now it was Kratos' turn. Ever since she realized she was pregnant, her hopes had fallen sharply.

"Anna..." Kratos looked at her sadly, then he looked at the stars talking audibly to himself, "no, I will find a way. Something will happen. I have hope, Origin is on our side.

"He told me I will find help in a friend... and strength in my blood. Friends... how many friends do I have left that are still alive? I refuse to count Mithos as a friend anymore. Yuan? Yuan has been unhappy with Mithos' ideals as well, but I don't know how he stands right now... it's too dangerous. I'm not sure I really have any other friends. Now, hope in my blood? What does that mean? "

"A friend will help you? Hope in your blood? It would help if he would just be a bit clearer!"

"Most important are the items we need to find to forge the Ring of the Pact. What he said after that, I can only understand as possibilities to give us hope."


	2. Chapter 2: The Hunters and the Hunted

**Thanks to CutePresea, Keeper of Balance, and crystalwolfberri for reviewing!! Anna does seem a bit too moody, huh. Her moods will swing up in this chapter! She's going to discover more fun things about being pregnant...except she won't have her mom, the library or the internet to figure out her problems!**

**There's going to be a break after this chapter for the next couple of weeks. I'm going to China for vacation! Please R&R, you guys really make my day! Thanks so much!**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 2

Kratos laid on his back, arms behind his head, watching the stars. He always made an effort to clear his mind and just focus on the sky so he wouldn't go mad from thinking all the time. The night was starting to give way to light, and the faintest stars were fading from his sight. Dawn was his favorite part of the day to watch. It felt like a new beginning, another chance for hope.

They had traveled most of the night before they finally stopped to rest in a small clearing in the forest. They always changed what part of the day they traveled and stopped, letting Anna and Noishe sleep whenever one or the other (usually both) finally gave way to exhaustion.

"Whine..."

Kratos turned around to look at Noishe. It seemed a bit early for him to wake up, but the last few times he did, it was always soon followed by Anna waking up and finding a bush to hurl into. Anna always slept against the protozoan, and somehow Noishe could always feel when she wasn't feeling good. His first order of business was always to let Anna slowly lie to the ground, and then get as far away as possible.

Not surprisingly, a queasy Anna crawled over to the nearest bush a few feet away.

"Was my cooking that bad again, Anna?" Kratos asked, frowning, as he got up from his perch on a boulder nearby.

"Ugh... no, no..."

Kratos rummaged through their supplies until he found the water, and walked over towards Anna.

"Ahhh, I feel terrible! Nothing's coming out this time, ugh... I feel so nauseated..." Anna slumped down and held her forehead in her hands. "I don't think it's your cooking, dear, the chicken kebab was really, really good. Better than I could ever cook, anyway... I think I'll go--"

Kratos suddenly turned around, his angel senses on high alert. He had heard the faintest sound of a bow string being pulled... he quickly rolled over to where he deposited his sword and shield and got equipped.

"Anna, find Noishe and stay close to him!" Noishe bounded in front of Anna and took up a defensive position. Fighting through the fog of sleepiness and nausea in her head, she found her throwing daggers and kept them close.

The next few seconds of the sound of the wind and leaves rustling sounded deafening.

"LIGHTNING!"

"GUARDIAN!" Kratos responded immediately, forming the green dome of the shield around all three of them as the spell hit, faintly shocking them.

As soon as the shield faded away, an arrow shot straight towards Anna.

"WHINE!" Noishe quickly jumped, knocking Anna out of the way. Not soon after, two Desians charged from the bushes and Anna quickly blocked a slash with one of her daggers. Kratos swiftly rolled behind the Desians and slashed them to the ground.

"Are you okay??" Kratos yelled, as another group of Desians charged towards them.

"Yes! Cast something to get rid of all these bastards, Kratos! We'll keep them at bay!" Anna yelled back, throwing three small daggers at the approaching men. One hit, but the other two flew past their intended targets. She focused hard to push out the headache she had and concentrate on the fight.

"Don't let him finish the spell!!" one of the Desians shouted, charging at Kratos. Noishe promptly bowled him over, knocking over another man in the process, and bit him hard.

"ERUPTION!" Kratos shouted, the mana around him erupting into fire and magically frying his surrounding enemies (but leaving Anna, Noishe, and the trees happily unscathed). Anna heard a scurrying sound beyond the perimeter of the blaze and quickly let fly a dagger, hitting its target in the right shoulder. Kratos immediately appeared behind the wounded man and put his sword to his neck.

"Kvar's, I assume? How did you find us!" Kratos demanded.

"Kill me now, human, it won't matter! Lord Kvar will have you soon! He's nearly emptied every possible Desian from Asgard to find you, you have no chance." The Desian stared defiantly and before they could ask him any more questions, he killed himself on Kratos' blade.

"Right, okay, I want my dagger back, sorry," Anna said, and pulled the dagger from the Desian's shoulder.

"I think we killed all of this group of scouts, they shouldn't be able to report back, at the very least," Kratos said, as he let the body drop.

"Yes, hopefully, no one saw a giant explosion far off in the distance," Anna replied, pulling out another dagger from another unfortunate victim.

Kratos looked over at Anna, amused by the rather morbid ritual of retrieving daggers she had to go through after a fight every time. "After seeing you throw those daggers these past few fights, I need to just teach you how to use an honest sword, Anna. Dagger throwing just seems so inefficient."

"I can use a sword... or I mean a long dagger... but I grew up throwing knives as a sport. Later it seemed more important when they built the Ranch next to Luin. I was the best in Luin..." Anna frowned.

"I just feel... a little nervous about it, that's all. Mana can be manipulated by spells to hit what I want it to hit... but daggers aren't so selective..." Kratos said carefully.

Anna laughed. "I wouldn't hit you, I'm not that bad. But I won't say no to actual sword fighting lessons from you. I've never had good training in it. But I would rather use a smaller or lighter sword. The swords you fight with are so big and heavy."

"That can be easily rectified in Hima. Do you still feel nauseous? I'm worried about you, why are you always so sick?" Kratos asked, as he gathered their scattered belongings.

"I feel better now. And, I don't know why I'm always feeling so bad... I've never felt this way before until the last few weeks. The feeling passes fairly quickly though, so at least I don't feel bad all the time. Hmm, do you think maybe it's the ex-sphere messing me up?"

"Somehow I don't think so. In all my life, I've never heard of ex-spheres causing people to throw up or feel nauseous. Yes, they eventually weaken the person if the ex-sphere is growing, but you are not at that stage yet, I'm sure of it. But come, let us just make our way to Hima and get you a Panacea Gel, maybe that will help. Maybe you're poisoned. We need to restock our supplies anyway."

"Okay..." Anna replied, somehow sure that the Panacea Gel won't help her. "Sigh, why do I always feel so tired all the time...I really hope I'm not weakening from the ex-sphere..."

"I just told you I don't---ah, maybe it is because of your pregnancy!" Kratos suddenly said.

"What? Oh,that's an idea, isn't it. Maybe that's it. But I thought it was supposed to be a _good_ experience, though, ah... not that I know," Anna muttered, getting on Noishe's back. "Sorry, Noishe, I'm just going to have to burden you again. I think I'm going to fall asleep on you."

Noishe replied with a low whine.

"Yuan, sir. I believe we may have found Kratos and the Angelus Project, again. 

Yuan looked up from his desk and looked at his trusted friend, Botta. "Excellent, keep an eye on them, and get rid of any more pesky Desians in their way. I want to make sure they get to Triet."


	3. Chapter 3: Courage and Curiosity

**I am back! China was a blast, though I couldn't keep my mind from wandering back to the story at night... Sorry for the delay and the wait! I had some writer's block for this chapter... but I think I punched it out okay. I'm getting excited about the future events of this story, stay tuned!**

**R&R please! **

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 3

"Yuan, what the hell is going on? It's been five months already, I can't believe you can't even find Kratos and make him answer to me!"

"Well, Lord Yggdrasil, Kratos is a Cruxis angel as well you know, so he's doing very well hiding himself along with the Kvar's secret Angelus Project. I last tracked them down in Asgard, but I think he caught wind and left. I can only assume he must still be trying to get over Hakonesia Peak. I am still preoccupied with trying to get more information from Kvar about his Angelus Project, however," Yuan said calmly, standing in front of Yggdrasil's oaken desk.

The room they were in was dimly lit by the lamp on Yggdasil's desk. What little light illuminated the myriad books shelved along the whole backside of the wall. It was a beautiful study, complete with luxurious, affluent chairs and sofas. The blue-haired half-elf standing in front of the desk was not so impressed at his surroundings at the moment.

"Fine, I'll send Pronyma to scout around Hakonesia. Kvar is making me extremely angry. I feel like everyone is hiding something from me! I should just kill them all and install new Cardinals!" Yggdrasil said, narrowing his eyes and slamming a fist on the desk.

"I can't say I disagree with that..." Yuan answered, looking at the cobweb on the upper left corner. _I can't believe those robotic angels missed that..._

"You're dismissed. Get more information about the Angelus Project."

"Yessir."

Yuan did a slight bow and turned to leave. After stepping out of Yggdrasil's office, he sighed heavily. _I can't keep you from Yggdrasil forever, you imbecile... I still can't believe you were capable of being so idiotic..._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx _

"Hyah!"

A thin sword whipped through the air, slashing through cloth and leather. A gruff man staggered back, looking down at his freshly torn tunic and the thin line of blood starting to gather at his wound.

"Take that thief! And this!" Anna yelled. The thief ducked Anna's next swing and turned on his heel, bringing his dagger around.

Anna swung around bringing her sword up, but not before a broader sword intercepted the oncoming slash from the thief.

Kratos pushed the man away with his blade and promptly finished with a sonic thrust. The thief fell unconscious on the ground.

"Reaction time, Anna. I think our next lesson will be more on guarding and defensive moves," Kratos said as he quickly relieved the unconscious thief of whatever food and money he had. The brief thought of the irony of the situation made him smirk. The thief struck first, they were just defending, of course.

"I think I was doing quite well before you jumped in and took my glory!" Anna snapped crossly but quickly cried with glee, "Oh! He has a small bag of rice on him! Excellent! I want fried rice!"

"Well then, you get to cook. I think fried rice is too much trouble without a proper kitchen. By the way, are you getting more familiar with the new sword?" Kratos asked.

"Much better. I love this rapier! I think we were really lucky to pass by Hima, since they have a great selection for travelers and such."

"Will you retire the daggers now?"

"I like my daggers! Though I still think that if I could find something lighter and smaller to learn to throw with, it'd still be a good long-range option. But I think I will need to design my own or something," Anna replied offhandedly, stuffing the rice in their food bag and hoisting it on Noishe.

Kratos looked at her thoughtfully, then lifted his head to look at the passing clouds in the sky. _If I could still have access to Tethe'alla via the Welgaia warp, shurikens from Mizuho would match her description perfectly... though mastering that technique is another problem for her altogether..._

"We haven't seen a Desian for a while, huh?" Anna asked, shaking Kratos out of his thoughts.

"It has been a long time. Perhaps we did cut the trail with the last Desian attack. I would like to think that, but I am getting a little worried about their silence. We must be ever more on our guard. I believe it is our best interest to avoid Izoold and head straight for Ossa Trail. It's not far, we should reach there before sunrise tomorrow if we make haste. The sun is only setting just now... How are you feeling?"

"I feel fine, actually. I haven't been feeling nauseous anymore. I feel positively normal, maybe I'm not really even pregnant!"

"Perhaps, since you seem much happier and getting fatter from all the food you eat these days..."

"What? I'm not fat!"

"Just keep in mind not to snack so much when we travel, we have to ration our food... I've seen you pick at a whole loaf of bread and grabbing at nothing in the bag after an hour. It is safer to believe you are pregnant, and treat you with more care than regret it later."

They continued in silence, listening to the sound of crickets, Noishe's plodding footsteps and Kratos' lighter ones. The mountains separating them from Triet rose up to meet them, shadows in the darkening sky. Anna looked at the dark shapes, and the setting sun behind them, wondering just how old they were.

"In all the 4000 years, have you ever had other kids or other women in your life, Kratos?"

Kratos looked up, surprised by the question. "Er, no actually."

Now it was Anna's turn to be pleasantly surprised and confused. She had geared herself not to be surprised if he had had like 100 other families scattered throughout the world. "How in 4000 years could you be so disinterested in that part of humanity until now?

"I'm not sure I could consider myself entirely human anymore, Anna. First, I had ingested Aionis which made me capable of magic, then when we had the Cruxis crystal embedded in us, it extended our lives indefinitely and gave us supernormal abilities at a cost. Our emotions slowly ebbed away as our powers grew. I've lived a very strangely unfeeling existence, Anna, until something snapped when I saw you in the Ranch. Maybe it was caused by my slow grasp that something was wrong with the way Mithos was handling the world... and the discomfort and anger that started eating at me. When I saw you, I started feeling things I haven't felt in eons, literally..."

"So the Cruxis crystal's effect isn't permanent?" Anna asked, feeling kind of proud of the effect she somehow had on him.

"I'm not sure, I've been wondering if there might not be an inverse effect between emotion and power offered by the crystal. I can't say I feel weaker, but maybe not as capable as I could be... Then again, I hesitate to say I am anywhere close to having the whole range of whatever human emotions I have had."

"I wonder what the baby will be like..." Anna thought aloud.

"I wonder that myself... maybe he'll be perfectly human..." Kratos answered in kind, looking at the stars starting to appear in the sky.


	4. Chapter 4: Past and Present

**There's no Anna in this Chapter, but history is important! **

**Yuan, he is a complicated character who deserved more screen time in the game, I think. **

**No one try to think too hard about what Cruxis Crystals do to a person! I don't think it made total sense in the game, so I'm writing my own interpretation. **

**Let me know what you think! I was attacked by my muse tonight, and I couldn't stop writing... now it's 4am in the morning, so I apologize for any funky typos or grammar. R&R!**

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Origin of Hope

Chapter 4: Past and Present

"Yuan sir, I think we may have found a match for a summoner."

Yuan's pen stopped in mid writing.

The room he was in was not the most flattering, with dusty shutters and sandy floors. The Renegades base on the Sylvarant side had just entered the last stages of completion, while the Tethe'alla base was just starting. Yuan was in no hurry. He had been working out of the back door of this shack in Triet for years, planning and brainstorming some way to return the world to its original state.

"Where?" he finally said.

Botta shifted in his step. "In the secret village of Mizuho. It seems that this girl was found as a baby in the forests of Goracchia, and taken in by the chief of the village. Our Mizuho contact told us that at five years old, she has exhibited unique signs of communicating with her natural surroundings. At first the people in the village thought she was acting as children normally do, but her unique gift gradually revealed itself when she was able to make a dying plant come alive again by talking with it or when she was not afraid of the dark like the other kids and when a storm comes in, she laughs whenever thunder sounds. When lightning threatened to set a field on fire, she shouted something unintelligible...causing the storm to break to just a steady rain."

Yuan sat back in his seat, resting his head on a fist. Mithos had shown signs of communicating with nature when he was really young as well. Martel told him stories including how Mithos somehow floated happily back to land safely after swimming too far in the ocean. His abilities faded quickly over time, but the unique connection with the spirits were clear when they first approached Undine in their travels.

Botta shifted his weight again as he watched Yuan deep in thought. This was big news, as they had been searching for some hope of a summoner all these years since he started working for Yuan. A summoner was pivotal to Yuan's plans to dethrone Yggdrasil, and Botta checked his excitement that they might finally start on the main part of the plan.

"She is only five years old? Then we will have to wait until she is of age before we can train her to challenge the summon spirits. We cannot risk her dying because we were too hasty. I do not doubt that she will have any problems nullifying Mithos' pact however, since he abandoned his ideals a long time ago. This is really excellent news, Botta, I look forward to meeting this new summoner. Finally, after ages of waiting, fortune has finally bestowed another summoner upon the land. It's about time. Could you find out anything about how she ended up in Goracchia forest? I wonder where she originally came from."

"We have our contacts working on that right now, sir."

Yuan smiled for what he felt was the first real smile in years. "Go take a well deserved rest, friend. I have others overlooking the branch wrecking havoc inside the Palmacosta ranch."

"Yessir, I am very happy to have found such great information for you." Botta smiled, took a slight bow and exited the room.

Yuan got up from his wooden chair and walked outside, squinting at the harsh sun. A glint from the reservoir across from the building beckoned him to come relax. Sitting under the gently rustling fronds of a palm tree, Yuan gazed across the precious water of the desert. However, his work and his past caught up to him in his thoughts as they always did.

The Renegades were really starting to form into a formidable opposition group. It wasn't too long ago that Yuan finally started his opposition party. The couple thousands of years before then felt like a black hole...

He remembered when they, the four heroes, discovered the highly advanced exspheres, and were filled with excitement at the possibilities those little spheres could impart them. What the ancient (ancient when they were not ancient) texts did not clarify, were the sacrifices they would have to make in exchange for those enhancements.

After ending the Kharlan War, the four heroes felt invincible and infallible. Heroes could not be wrong. Mithos' vision of splitting the two huge, warring kingdoms of Sylvarant and Tethe'alla into two worlds of shifting wealth and poverty sounded like the best way to a better world without war. The problem they still could not find a solution to, was the ever-present racial discrimination and violence that knew no political boundaries. Convinced that they were the only reasonable people in the world, they needed a way to extend their life to be the constant judge and omniscient power to guide the irrational world to eventual peace. And to find a way to end racial discrimination.

Exspheres have long been discovered and mined for their mysterious energy to power machines. The Toize Valley was the site of advanced ancient kingdoms that have died and gone. The art of producing the exspheres died and burned in the ashes of those kingdoms, leaving researchers of Yuan's time to try to solve the mystery. At the time, the fact that a key crest made of inhibitor ore prevented the eventual death of a person was not known to anyone but the dwarves. Many people, eager for the enhanced energy that machines received from exspheres, would try to attach the gems to themselves and see if they could grow stronger. Strangely, the reverse was true and they died quicker than normal. And if they tried to remove it... those unfortunate enough to be around the person at the time didn't often survive long after to warn the others. Eventually though, people realized that attaching an exsphere to a living being (i.e. themselves) was not a good idea, and most people eventually avoided it.

However, there were some exspheres that seemed to have a stronger effect on machines than others, which puzzled researchers for the longest time. What gave these exspheres their power? Why were some so much stronger than others? Then there were rumors of Holy Crystals, that showed up in the pages of old texts. Mythical gods and angels were never described without a Holy Crystal shining somewhere on their body. Kratos had mused about the fact that perhaps the Holy Crystals were in fact highly advanced exspheres. Perhaps they had evolved enough to be used on humans... Mithos became certain that those were what they needed for their new world, and they were going to find them. A good start was to go to the Toize Valley, the site of the largest deposit of exspheres, and where both countries vied endlessly for... and also where actual mining and research was not proceeding very efficiently because of the endless battles.

After a seemingly fruitless search around the mines of the valley (and avoiding getting speared by the never ending skirmish between the two countries), they found a dwarf wandering around gathering some materials in one of the mines. Intrigued by the dwarf (since they had never known them to ever set foot above ground), they befriended him and were invited into the secret land of Moria, the underground world of the dwarves. The dwarves had long used exspheres in their daily lives. In fact, they had discovered a way to attach the exspheres onto themselves to make them stronger and more powerful. Exspheres mounted on a special keycrest made of inhibitor ore were attached to workers. They were an important tool for expanding their underworld, and they didn't use them for killing each other. The four heroes were astounded by the power of the key crest, and tried them on, amazed at the power the exspheres gave them. It wasn't enough, however. Mithos asked the dwarves whether they knew about the Holy Crystals. By the description, the dwarves realized they must have been talking about what they called, the Cursed Tears. The dwarves warned them that in the dwarven history, the Cursed Tears were known to be vessels of immortal power that destroyed civilizations. The civilization that used to exist millenniums ago were destroyed by what were known as Angels of Death, twisted by the power of the Tears. They warned the heroes to think of them no more.

Thanking the dwarves for their knowledge and their key crests, the four heroes were even more excited about the Holy Crystals. "Immortal power!" Mithos whispered time and time again. Since their intentions were only for the good of the world, they were certain that they would not become heartless demons. Now, they believed that the Holy Crystals (they flatly refused to call them Cursed Tears) were definitely around the area.

With renewed interest in the ancient ruins around the area, they researched and combed the area. One day, Martel came across an almost completely destroyed temple ruin. Yuan was convinced that the area was just an interesting arrangement of rocks and boulders, until Martel shouted for him to come look at what seemed to be squarish stone box. It was half buried and hidden under huge stones (that possibly could have been columns or some kind of altar). When they finally pried open the stone, what they found were six gems of the deepest opalescent red. They seemed alive, and the fact that there was not a speck of dirt on them, made them realize that they were no ordinary exspheres.

After equipping them and feeling an inhuman surge of power, the heroes felt even more invincible than before and were eager to finally confront the last and most powerful summon spirit. Then at last, Mithos would realize his dream of a warless world with them as the guiding shepherds. They left the ruins at a near run, their spirits at the highest and their guard at the lowest.

What they didn't expect, was the foul hand of fate. Martel had turned to shout something back at Yuan, when an arrow struck her in the back, piercing her heart...

Clenching a fist full of sand, Yuan flinched at the memory. Even after four thousand years, the memory still forced tears out of his eyes.

Mithos had screamed an unnatural sound, calling forth all the summon spirits to obliterate the human responsible and all the humans fighting in the area. "HUMANS, BLOODY HUMANS, THEY MUST ALL DIE!"

Yuan felt the scream resonate with his own belief at the moment. But he had glanced at Kratos, who didn't seem too comfortable about Mithos' sudden declaration.

After the utter destruction of the offending humans around them, the three heroes surrounded Martel. Martel looked pained and worried...seemingly about something other than her physical pain. "Promise me... promise me that you will find a way to end discrimination... promise..." she spoke in a strained whisper. She tried to say more, but finally fell limp.

"Yes, Martel... don't talk anymore... save your breath, stay with me!" Yuan cried, taking out the arrow and holding her close. Mithos couldn't say anything, his fists clenched so hard that blood started flowing from where his nails dug in.

Martel still hung onto life by a thread, and they rushed her to Heimdall, hoping the elves would allow an exception and save a dying person, half-elf or not. When the elves saw Martel, they said they would have helped if they could, but she was too far gone. Half deranged with sorrow, Mithos ran past into the Torrent Forest. If the elves weren't going to help her, surely the most powerful of the summon spirits will. Yuan himself was overcome with sorrow, but when he compared himself to Mithos, Mithos definitely took it many levels further than he thought possible.

At the altar of Origin, they only cried his name once before Origin himself materialized above. He stared hard at the desperate group, crossing two of his arms.

"You, Origin, the omnipotent spirit of this world, surely you can save my sister!" Mithos cried, ignoring the more formal introductions he usually started with when faced with a summon spirit.

_"Her soul has seeped into the Immortal Crystal she has embedded at her chest. I have no power to call her from those depths. What else is it that you seek?"_

Mithos had stayed silent for what seemed like an eternity, before he stood up and demanded Origin's power.

Origin only laughed.

_"I am not one to be used lightly by any mere being. State your vow and I will see if you are worthy."_

"The world is suffering from endless war, caused by advanced magitechnology. Since the Mana tree has wilted due to the monumental mana depletion, I must ask for the two warring countries to be split into two worlds to prevent further war."

_"Interesting proposal, how will you support both worlds?"_

Mithos thought for a minute, then smiled. "The Mana tree left a Seed. I will place this seed between the two worlds. Each world will vie for the small amount of mana emanating from the seed. One world will flourish and one world will be in decline. No flourishing world will ever flourish to the point of extreme utilization of magitechnology before the balance shifts to the other world. Hence, neither world will ever be capable of devastating war."

_"Pact-maker, you have lofty ideals. I give my power to no mere being. However, I will grant you the Eternal Sword to split the worlds and form the warless worlds you wish for."_

Mithos looked strangely hesitant at that moment. His face seemed drained of blood, and his eyes seemed to emit an unnatural glow. "I also demand, Origin, for the Eternal Sword to be used by none other than Half-elves, the race that has received unjustified discrimination."

Origin was silent for a moment, slightly discomforted by the boy. However, he had already gone somewhat too far after he decided to grant the Eternal Sword to Mithos. He merely nodded.

Kratos seemed a little unnerved by the strange demand that Mithos made. Yuan wondered if Mithos still considered Kratos an exception.

"My last demand... is for a seal be placed upon you..." Mithos looked straight into Origin's heavyset eyes, "and Kratos shall be your seal."

The silence that followed that demand seemed louder than any sound could make. Kratos had a look of utter shock and bewilderment. Mithos never glancd in his direction. Yuan immediately felt sorry for his best friend, knowing what a burden Mithos had laid on him.

Origin slowly nodded again. _"As you wish, Pact-maker."_

Origin held out his four arms, concentrating his personal mana in the center and forming a giant sword of purple light and energy...

Later, Mithos had tried to apologize to Kratos, telling him that since Kratos was the best fighter in the world, he was the safest and most reliable seal for Origin. Kratos only stayed silent.

Derris-Kharlan, essentially a giant meteor that was caught in the planet's gravitational mana, became their new home to overlook the two new worlds. It was the original planet and vessel that the elves had lived on. Since it was not especially green and beautiful, the elves had long since abandoned it for the green planet they had found. Now that the worlds had split, Mithos had to use the power of the summon spirits and the Eternal Sword to keep Derris-Kharlan from drifting away due to the shift in gravitational mana.

Mithos had set Martel's Cruxis Crystal (as they now called it) in the Great Seed, so it could always be nourished by the life-giving mana. He didn't know what to expect or what he was going to do quite yet... but the idea of reviving Martel obsessed him every minute afterwards.

From that day, Mithos slowly descended into what seemed like a bipolar disorder.

Also from that day, Yuan and Kratos slowly started to lose feeling. The dwarves had told them that the key crest would nullify any negative effects of exspheres. However, they did not realize a key crest could only diminish and slow the negative effects of the Cruxis Crystals. Whatever doubts they had about Mithos' ideals... started to fade away.

Mithos had finally discovered the procedure for making the exspheres, and set up Human Ranches in Sylvarant to harvest them. He realized that the more souls that an exsphere devours, the stronger they become. Also, the more miserable the person was, the stronger they became. Kratos knew about Mithos' plan, but couldn't conjure up enough feeling of disgust. Mithos also never sent him to the Human Ranches for any reason, business or personal.

Kratos came to Yuan one day, years later, and made a telling comment.

"Yuan, I feel so lifeless."

"Yeah, I know, I feel that way too."

"..."

"..."

"Do you care?" Kratos finally asked.

"Not particularly..."

"Yes, I don't particularly care about it either. I feel like I should. I also realized that nothing makes me extremely happy anymore."

"True, I haven't felt that pit of depression about Martel for a while... I can't tell if I should be happy about that though. Maybe I should."

"Maybe you just got over her finally."

"Absolutely not, I could never get over Martel..."

The sun was setting over the reservoir. Yuan felt a gust of cool wind. He couldn't really remember much more of the years after that. Until one day, when he descended from Welgaia a couple decades ago.

He was on his way to the Palmacosta Human Ranch, when he came across a Desian in the forest being beaten by five other Desians. Curious, he went to go take a look.

"Filthy! You are a shame to half-elves! No half-elf should ever feel any sympathy for those disgusting humans! You should be proud of your job!"

The bloody Desian on the ground croaked (in a strange accent from an distant land), "I've told you... I don't have any sympathy for them, but I just want a different job away from them, I can't stand looking at them..."

"Liar, we have reports from fellow coworkers of yours... the sad little look you give them, and how you don't whip them as hard as you're supposed to. We're not supposed to kill our own kind, but as of now, I don't consider you worthy of being a half-elf!" One Desian took off the helmet off the Desian in question, and lashed him in the face with his whip. The other Desians laughed and readied their own whips.

Yuan felt a sudden surge of a strange, familiar feeling. The key crest around the Cruxis Crystal started to glow and heat up. Something cracked in his head, and he extended his translucent wings, took out his double-ended blade, and quickly shot over to the Desians. Without a word, he sliced up all the offending Desians and landed next to the man he saved. His wings quickly vanished.

"What? Who are you?? Why did you save me??"

Yuan was silent for a moment. "I don't know. I don't know why I saved you." He started to walk away.

The man on the ground crawled foward. "Wait, at least give me your name."

Yuan turned back around. "I am Yuan."

"I... my name is Botta... please... let me serve you... I owe you my life..."

Yuan felt another strange surge of feeling. He was trying to remember what these feelings were and put a name to them. He decided this one was serious confusion.

"Please..."

"Tell me why you did not hate the humans."

Botta wasn't sure how to reply. "I... I don't love them or anything... but I don't feel comfortable whipping another person if they didn't do anything to me... I mean, I know that I couldn't get a job in a human city or feel welcomed anywhere by them... and this was the only job I could possibly do... but it still seemed unjustified..."

Yuan stared at the man on the ground, confused by the onslaught of emotions that flooded his brain.

"Justice... injustice... I... yes, this world is not just. It... it is not the way it should be, you're right."

Botta started to look confused. "Is something wrong?"

Yuan shook his head violently, trying to keep his rampant emotions in check. He finally noticed that his hand felt like it was burning from the key crest. "Are you the only half-elf you know who feels this way?"

"There are others, but they would not say it."

"Would you like to change this world, Botta? I just remembered I had a problem with this world." Yuan shook his head again. What a dumb thing to say.

Botta was silent for a bit. He must've been wondering what sort of freak Yuan was, Yuan had thought.

"Absolutely, not only would I like to actively change this world for the better, but my life is yours," Botta finally said.

"Then I have a story to tell you about myself and the truth of this world..."

Yuan looked up at the darkening sky above the reservoir. Botta is the best companion any man could ask for. He was also the one indirectly responsible for breaking the hold that the Cruxis Crystal had on his emotions. Yuan decided that possibly, strong positive emotion was needed to break through the curse. Whatever the case, he was happy to have his mind back. He had finally remembered that he was gravely unhappy with Mithos' interpretation of Martel's last wish and wanted to change it. That was nearly four thousand years ago!

When he returned to Welgaia to tell Kratos about his newly rediscovered emotions, the person he found was still under the influence of the Crystal. No amount of shaking could make Kratos wake up and care. Finally, Yuan could only let his friend continue in his lifeless ways, while he tried to find a way himself to undo the damage that Mithos had wrecked. As for Mithos, Yuan felt the boy still had control over his emotions, since he was still able to throw a tantrum once in a while. On the flip side, Mithos could also be that sweet, good intentioned boy he used to like. Yuan decided that Mithos' bipolar nature may have been the personal side effect of his Cruxis Crystal.

Through Botta, Yuan finally established the Renegades, a group opposed to the Desians. Yuan had written down a brief _true_ history of the world, including his plans for a bright new world. Soon, small copies of the anonymous text found their way to disaffected Desians and other half-elves, forming a workable army to challenge the Desians.

Then... that bizarre day years later... Kratos was sent down to report something on Luin. Yuan never could figure out exactly what happened. But it seemed that Kratos had finally broken out of the Cruxis Crystal's trance... because of a girl! Yuan would have laughed himself off the platforms in Welgaia and into the murky mysterious depths... had he not been in more shock when he heard the news. He was relieved that his friend finally got his emotions (or some of it) back... but his friend had not picked a very bright idea: openly defying the system and running away with his girl.

Yuan sighed. He really needed to talk with Kratos.

The sun had set. Yuan decided it was time to return to Welgaia for the rest of the day.


	5. Chapter 5: Enroute on Ossa Trail

**Hello all! Thanks for your reviews, I really feel motivated by them!**

**This may seem like a somewhat fluffy chapter, but I liked it. Let me know what you think!**

**I think I've been forgetting to put disclaimers: I don't own Tales, okay.  
**

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Origin of Hope

Chapter 5: Faith and Fear

Noishe whined.

Anna kept shifting around on his back, like she just couldn't get comfortable. Noishe groaned inwardly, putting another foot forward uphill. _Kratos' mate needs to be a little more sympathetic to her ride! Life really isn't easy when you're in the convenient form of a dog/packmule creature…_ Noishe shook his head violently. _No, Anna was nice. Anna made Kratos happy. Anna brought back the Kratos he used to know._

"Noishe, dear, I think I'll lighten your load and walk on my own," Anna said finally, patting Noishe on the head. Noishe whined and stopped. Anna took it as a positive answer and slid off his back.

"Ah! Much better! I was getting so bored letting you do all the walking… Sorry for burdening you on an uphill climb! I should have gotten off earlier today, but I think the baby must be angry about something since it feels like he's kicking me… don't tell Kratos! I'm gonna go conquer this blasted mountain on my own two legs, don't you worry! I wish the darn baby would just come out and walk himself up…" Anna stretched her arms and patted her belly.

She put her arms behind her head as she walked, and started whistling an old Luin folk song to herself. The sun had just risen, and the cool air smelled of morning dew. Birds added their own tune to Anna's and fluttered around the trees. She felt warmth crawl back into her cheeks as she continued marching up the path and taking deep breaths of the morning air.

Kratos had walked forward to scout the area ahead, and to also let Noishe slowly catch up with Anna. Anna really wanted to sneak up and surprise him... but remembered she nearly got sliced in half the last time she tried to give him a surprise hug from behind.

Anna's playful mood did not extend to Kratos. His senses were as alert as always, but at the same time he felt like he was still waking up from a dream. Ever since Anna had somehow cracked the shell that he didn't even realize was there, his emotions had been slowly coming back. The process brought a mix of pleasure and pain, and most of him still felt more comfortable with the unemotional numbness of pure reason and apathy. It still puzzled him as to how the 'curse' that the Cruxis Crystal brought... had broken. He remembered very distinctly, the flood of emotions that overwhelmed his brain when he was in Luin... He had not even realized he had been unable to care about his own opinions until then.

Would the Crystal try to recover all his emotions again? Or was he set free? Would he even notice it if the Crystal started robbing his emotions again? Would Anna notice beyond how she thinks he's emotionless enough now? He still has a future child to think about... Maybe he should just dispose of the Crystal... but unlike an exsphere, it does not allow its release that easily... and if he was able to take the Crystal off without dying, he would be a shell of what he is now. Kratos felt his chest tighten with all the anxieties building up. On the outside however, he looked as calm as ever.

_Reason! Focus on priorities! _What was important is find Anna her key crest, then reverse the damage done to the world. Questions that cannot be answered only cause confusion and anxiety. These emotions cannot help, and must be kept at bay. Once he releases Origin... that would be enough, correct? A wave of uneasiness came over him whenever he thought of that these days. So much for keeping emotions at bay... But good Goddess Martel, there was something missing... that Origin neglected to tell him... that he needed... He knew it was something basic, but his mind just seemed unable to grasp it...

Then he heard the sound of a projectile coming from behind.

In one swift motion he unsheathed his sword and spun around, neatly slicing…a tomato.

"I've been calling you over and over again at the top of my freaking lungs! How could you have superior hearing and not hear me a few feet away?!" Anna yelled as she marched towards a motionless Kratos.

Kratos, meanwhile, still had his sword in the position of when it first made contact with the tomato. Bits of tomato dripped off his hair and his nose. Finally he wiped his free hand over his eyes so he could finally open them. His mind was flushed blank, busy trying to ignore the smell and taste that now threatened him. He carefully wiped the tomato juice off his sword on the grass and sheathed his sword.

"How may I help you, my dear?" Kratos said slowly.

Anna stopped, her eyes widening. "Oh noooo… I thought I grabbed an apple…" Suddenly she broke into a frantic run, undoing the scarf around her shoulders.

"An apple?? Anna, for the love of me, that is still made of quite a hard substance and would not have—"

Anna quickly rubbed his face with her scarf and pulled tomato bits out of his hair, all the while trying to keep a horrified, apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it at all, I'm serious! I shouldn't have done that, sorry, sorry--"

"Anna, if you have to laugh, just do it, already. You are not doing a good job hiding it." Kratos said evenly.

Anna made another attempt to stifle it, but finally sputtered out laughing. Kratos sighed, a faint trace of a smile on his lips. Anna smiled wide and kissed him, throwing her arms around his tomato drenched shoulders. Kratos' eyes widened in surprised and slowly put his arms around her waist, his anxieties all but forgotten. Anna lifted her lips, cheeks flushed, and feeling infinitely happy. "Well, I think I got most of the tomato off..."

"Not quite... but this still doesn't excuse the fact that…" Kratos leaned in and kissed her, "I must suffer inhaling tomato fumes until we find a stream…" he kissed her again, "for _you_ to properly wash all that tomato off my clothes…"

"Right away, sir, as soon as a water source shows up!"

Kratos drew her back in a tight hug. "I'm sorry for not hearing you, Anna... Perhaps I really was too engrossed in my thoughts."

"So, you heard a tomato flying towards you, but not my screaming? Okay, Kratos, what is it that's got you so worked up now? Why won't you tell me what's on your mind? You need to remember to tell me what's wrong! It's not good for you to bottle it all up... I tell you that all the time!"

"Habits die hard... especially when they've been ingrained for a few thousand years, Anna."

"Ah, right... I'll just have to keep reminding you then," Anna said, wiping another tomato seed off his shoulder.

"Whine..."

Kratos turned around, and was immediately knocked to the ground by the protozoan licking his face. "Noishe, what are you doing!"

Anna had quickly sidestepped and was now laughing her head off.

Noishe kept on licking all the tomato bits and seeds up.

"Stop, this instant! Yes, I remember you love tomatoes and I never give you any, but this is outrageous," Kratos got up, straightened his shirt, tried to shake his hair back to its original spiky shape, and quickly started on the path again. "Anna, where did you get that vile fruit from anyway??"

"Um, well when you cleaned out one of the thief's foodstuffs, you left the tomato... and well, I thought it would be a waste not to take it... sooooo I did. I was going to eat it myself, swear!" Anna said, then threw her arms in the air. "I can't believe a tomato caused so much drama!"

"Yes, tomatoes are vile things. They taste bad, smell bad, and cause unnecessary mental anguish," Kratos said, as he kept walking.

Anna rolled her eyes as she caught up to him. Her superhuman hero's greatest weakness was the tomato. She quickly suppressed another wave of laughter brewing up. "So what were you thinking about earlier?"

"Nothing."

"Kratos." Anna said dangerously.

"Sorry, Anna. It just doesn't seem right to burden you with my worries. Before you threw that tomato, I was overwhelming myself with rhetorical questions. I was growing more concerned about the Cruxis Crystal and whether it can reclaim my emotions again... And whether I would even notice if it did. I will be unable to make correct decisions if it does."

"Could you take it off?"

"No... unlike a regular exsphere, I believe I may die if I take it off... since I have lived beyond my normal limits and it is possibly the one keeping me alive. If I actually live, I would be less than half the person I am now... and I need the power to see you through safely. I also need it to rectify the situation of this world I helped create."

Anna kept walking, looking at the leaves overhead. She herself was growing a Cruxis Crystal within her, using her life energy to do it. If the Crystal must stay in, then could she get the same benefits as Kratos once she has a key crest? She felt a little giddy at the thought, but thought of something else. "Kratos, if we get a key crest for the one I have... would I lose feeling too? and gain the power to help fight along side you?"

Kratos had not thought of that. "I feel that all I know is just conjecture. I have no concrete answer to how I gained back my emotions... or if the Cruxis Crystal growing within you will revert to one you can use when we get the key crest. When I thought of the idea, I merely believed it would just inhibit the effects and let you live normally. If I still had access to the Derris-Kharlan core system, I would be able to compute an answer to this... Well, if the Crystal makes you into what I am, I want to say that... that would make me very angry... I would not want you to become like me." He put an arm around her waist as they walked together.

"Really, no?" Anna asked, raising an eyebrow. "Then I would be able to live forever with you, I don't see anything wrong with that! I would never get tired of you, honestly! Who knows, maybe our kid will live forever too!"

"Er... if he does... he would have to stop growing at some point in his life... This is too confusing. We could have made another species for all we are."

Anna laughed, squeezing herself closer to Kratos. "Good, then maybe he'll be a superhuman and we will be the unbeatable family of heroes!" Anna reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "We don't know what will happen, so let's keep going. No matter what, I will love you. If you lose your emotions again, I will do everything to get you back and find an answer to this. And I'm sure you'd do the same for me. I think... I think it just takes intense emotion that the Crystal can't control to break free of it... I think you actually gained back your emotions when you saw me in Luin...when--"

"Right, I understand. Don't bring that up again, Anna, emotions stirred by that incident are not healthy for you and too healthy for that crystal embedded in you. Do not worry, I will kill Kvar to avenge your mother, and destroy Asgard Ranch the next time I am given the chance. In fact, I will put an end to all these ranches and Cruxis one day. Just you wait."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

A little girl with jet-black hair played by a gurgling stream, making gurgling sounds along with it. The day was humid and hot, and the girl could hear the cicadas bleating their high pitched screams. The girl laughed suddenly, as if someone told her a funny joke.

Two young boys peered at her from behind a tree.

"She's so weird. I just don't feel right having her in the village. I wish the chief had not brought her back here."

"Kuchinawa, that is not a nice thing to say. She hasn't done anything against us and she's only five years old. If Chief Igaguri himself is raising her, I have no reason to worry. She just seems very in-tune with the natural spirits. That is a good thing."

"I've told the chief about her strange behaviors. I just don't think it is natural for a child to be like that. She hasn't bothered to get to know us at all. She just talks to flowers and water and whatever that isn't human. The chief is aware of her actions, but seems happy about it! He thinks she has a special gift, but I think she must be possessed by demons."

Orochi looked at his brother and frowned. Kuchinawa was always one to suspect everything and everyone. Maybe it was a good thing, and he himself should be less trusting of people. He shook his head. "Trust the chief, Kuchinawa. He is teaching her ninjitsu techniques already and she's learning really quick. It's unusual for a girl to learn ninjitsu, the chief must see something amazing about her. And I am sure that as the years go by, she will be more used to us and start to open up. She has only been with us for a couple of years... before then she was living on her own in the forest. That would make any child a little less normal, I'd say."

Kuchinawa shrugged, looking at the girl splashing her hand in the stream. "I saw the emissaries from Meltokio earlier today. They are always searching for some brilliant mind, maybe they will take an interest in her bizarre behavior and take her away. I think I will recommend her to the chief. It would be an honor for our village to send someone to Meltokio to be trained."

"I thought I saw those emissaries a few days ago. Are you sure they came today?"

"What? Of course, they wore the livery of the Meltokio king. They were led in blindfolded by Taro to Chief Igaguri's house this morning. You know you were never very detailed in your observation skills."

"Hmm, I don't know..." Orochi replied. He knew what he saw, and Chief Igaguri had received the men he saw in just the same way...days ago. Maybe he really wasn't that good at telling clothes apart... but they seemed like they were from Meltokio as well.


	6. Chapter 6: The Triet Desert

**Babies take so long, I do want Lloyd to hurry up and get out, grow up, and kick butt soon. But ah in due time... **

** So my land of Sylvarant is freakin' gigantic, either that or Kratos and Anna take forever traveling. Oh well who cares, Anna's gettin' near due. Yay!**

**By the way, I see plenty of hits, but only 2 or 3 reviews per chapter! Come on, even if all you say in your review is one or two words like "Yay, update!", I would do a flip for you at home. Honest! Okay, maybe I'll make my dog do the flip instead. **

**I wonder if I should revise my first few chapters, somehow they seem lacking now...**

** Oh yeah, I don't own Tales. Sucks.  
**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 6

A scorpion crawled quickly from rock to rock, finding whatever shade it could. Three travelers it had never seen before walked wearily towards it. The scorpion watched them carefully, then scurried beneath another rock. It felt a slight bit of sympathy for these large creatures. They could not possibly find any rock big enough to protect them from the rays of the sun.

The transition from lush mountain to unforgiving desert could be felt in the drastic change in temperature as Kratos and Anna descended the mountain towards Efreet's domain. The large green leaves at the top of the mountain gave way to smaller and stiffer leaves. The last day of the hike was spent in a rugged, rocky canyon.

When the vast expanse of the desert had spread out before Anna, she felt tiny and extremely vulnerable. A full moon had hung in the sky, giving an eerie glow to the sea of sand. She had still been able to feel the heat from the day emanating up from her feet. But the slight wind had been relatively cool, and Anna hoped it meant the desert may not be as bad as Kratos painted it to be. When she saw the sand dunes rising in front of her, she thought them very beautiful and serene.

The desert was the part of the journey Kratos feared most. _For being the agreeable and most polite summon spirit, Efreet kept a cruel and barely inhospitable domain_, Kratos thought bitterly. As he planned, they had arrived at the desert as the moon rose and the the temperatures fell drastically. The town of Triet lay in the southwestern quadrant by an oasis. Kratos thought grimly of the multiple days in the sun it would take to get there by foot. _The one oasis in this bloody desert, of course, lies as far in the desert as possible... insolent bastard._

Anna was back on Noishe. After walking on her own in the cool nights of the desert, Kratos ordered her back on the protozoan as soon as the sun broke the crest of the mountains. The first few days in the sun had been bearable since they've come from Ossa Trail. Now they journeyed deeper into the heart of the desert. From her perch on Noishe, Anna contemplated the bleak landscape around her...pitiless and uninviting. The dunes of sand seemed less and less beautiful to her as the days went by. The creatures that survived on the terrain were small, tough, and poisonous, reflecting the severity of their environment.

Every container they had were filled to the brim with water from the spring they found on the mountain. Now it never seemed enough, especially for Noishe. Water seemed to evaporate in the heat of the desert whenever Anna opened the tip of the water jug. She tried to reach for the water as little as possible now, afraid to find out how much water was left.

Kratos never drank any water. Anna had been about to open her mouth to yell at him to get some water in his system, when she remembered. Kratos had told her that he needed no food or water to live, let alone sleep. He still enjoyed the taste and relief offered from food and water, but having neither couldn't kill him. Being in the middle of the desert, Kratos still felt thirsty, and would have gladly drunk a whole gourd of water... but he wasn't going to tell anyone that, since he really didn't need it.

The journey had fallen mostly silent as the sun drained their energy away, and they could only focus on moving against the heat that was so thick it felt almost tangible. Anna felt her eyes shift out of focus. Today, the heat seemed more unbearable than ever. She realized quickly that winter really was her favorite season of all.

The baby kicked hard.

Anna grimaced slightly. It had to be a boy to be kicking so much and so brutally! Her head was starting to swim from the waves of heat that seemed to roll upon her. The baby was not helping her at all. Everything seemed to want to sap her energy. _Stop, baby, shhh, I know you want more water but you have learn to sacrifice your needs sometimes...when we reach Triet I promise I'll drink water enough to make up for all these days!_ _Don't kick, don't kick anymore… mommy isn't feeling well…_

Kratos looked up at the cloudless bright blue sky, engrossed in his thoughts. The heat today was the worst he had ever experienced in his life. Granted, he had wisely tried to avoid the desert whenever he could, or flew across when he had to before. But he couldn't chance taking his wings out. The burst of mana that came from forming the wings sent an unusual wave of energy that could easily alert anyone nearby able to sense mana. His wings had accidently burst forth once before (during a special night with Anna), and some lesser angels scouting around the area had caught wind immediately. Kratos sighed and blushed slightly at the memory.

Things were not going as pleasantly for Anna right now. _Blasted desert, how could there be no other way around?? _She rearranged her shawl to cover her face from the sun better. Her belly felt sore, she had a headache, and now she felt lightheaded from it all. _Why am I the one always getting sick and feeling rotten?? If Kratos would just fall ill once, I'd feel better. Maybe he can never get sick, dammit I want to be superhuman!_ _Wait, if he gets sick, I'd have no protector! Why am I thinking like this?? I've suffered way worse treatment in the Ranch! Still, this... this is not good. Oh Martel, this better not be a miscarriage! _She felt her eyes shift out of focus. A sharp pain emanated from Anna's left hand.

She flinched, gripping her hand and staring at the Cruxis Crystal embedded in it. It had taken a dark reddish glow, sending waves of pain throughout her body. _Goddess Martel...is this it...? Is it complete?? It couldn't be...but why has it come alive again?? Is it the heat? Am I not drinking enough water??? Why is it alive again??? This day is really going from bad to worse, oh no.. wait no, Anna, calm down, calm down... _Anna took a deep breath, her hands on her head, trying to slow down the beating of her heart. She felt the crystal sapping her energy, making the world spin faster around her. The baby kicked again. "KRATOS!"

Kratos looked over with a puzzled expression.

"ANNA!" Kratos suddenly shouted as Anna lost consciousness and started slipping off Noishe.

"ANNA WAKE UP!" Kratos felt his throat run completely dry. He kneeled on the sand, holding Anna in his arms as he tried to get water down her throat. He quickly cast first aid as well. "Answer me! Wake up!"

Her pulse was still there, but her face had gone pale. Then he saw it. The glow from her Cruxis Crystal on her left hand.

Noishe whinnied loudly, and started stomping the sand as he saw Kratos' expression change.

"Noishe, I'm sorry, I have to... Find cover, run, you can make it to Triet on your own without Anna on your back. Go! Hurry!"

Kratos stood up, holding Anna close. He closed his eyes. A brilliant flash of light shot from his back and materialized into huge, bright blue, cerulean wings. The air shimmered around him and sent waves through the sand. With a strong beat of his wings, he shot to the sky and headed for Triet.

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Yuan snapped his head up as a faint wave of mana washed over him. He recognized the unique mana signature immediately. _Fool! What the hell are you doing???_

"Sir, what's wrong??" Botta asked, seeing Yuan's sudden horrified expression.

"Botta, get the defense system activated at the Triet base and ready a couple of rooms for me... away from the construction."

"Yes... yes, sir!" Botta answered, and quickly left the room. He had felt the mana disturbance as well but didn't detect anything strange about it. In fact he felt angry. The soldiers he left to root out Desians coming after Kratos must have failed, and they must be starting another battle. Yuan must be angry.

Yuan stepped out of the hut into the intense heat of the sun. He looked towards the sky. _Where could he be? Is he really going to fly here??_

Without further hesitation, he ran out the back exit of the town away from any people who might see him. He quickly unfurled his own wings, sending out his own burst of mana into the air. _That idiot seems itching to get caught._

Yuan summoned as much power and speed as he could, and sped east, chasing the mana of his friend.

Kratos stopped in mid air, jolted by the faint quiver in the mana spreading from the east. He also recognized this mana signature immediately.

_Yuan...damn this, how could I have been found in less then five minutes??? Yuan, what is he doing here so close by? Is he searching for me as well at Yggdrasil's bidding?? _

Gathering even more energy now, Kratos sped forth as fast as he could, gripping Anna tightly. Even flying, he was still hours from Triet. He just needed an inn to revive Anna... he can battle out the enemies later... Nevertheless, he felt something churn in his stomach as he thought about the choice he had just made.

Yuan slowed down in flight, checking the position of Kratos' fading signature. He sincerely hoped Mithos had listened to him and really sent Pronyma and her friends to Hakonesia. He was playing a dangerous game, trying to find his old friend.

He flew higher and closer to the clouds, looking around desperately.

_What fortune that someone had to be nearby, and that someone had to be Yuan. Could Yggdrasil have sent him on some errand in Triet of all days? It matters not. If he gets in my way, I will destroy him..._He sighed. _Yuan may still not even be able to wonder why... _Kratos had been pondering the state of his old friend for the past hour as he flew, hoping he didn't have to kill him. Pawn or no, Yuan was still the only real friend he had left in the world, aside from Anna. He started an incantation as he flew, readying it to be released as he was possibly nearing the point of contact.

He didn't have to wait long. He immediately flew upon a group of lesser angels hovering around. They quickly turned around, faces betraying no surprise.

"Lord Kratos found, report immediately." the angel commander intoned. Two of the angel swordsmen split off east suddenly. _Damn lesser angels... so pathetic they were undetectable._

"JUDGEMENT!"

Bright beams of light shot down from the heavens, raining upon the angels and grounding some of them. One of the weaker angels that split off died instantly from the blast. The last one sped off faster.

"Did Yuan send you??? Where is he???"

The angels stared blankly back at him. "Lord Pronyma's orders are to find you and detain you." With that said, two angels charged, spears leveled at him.

Unable to fight with his sword as he was still carrying Anna, Kratos could only dodge their swipe and ready another spell.

"LIGHTNING!" Kratos shouted quickly, striking down the male angel closest to him. Gripping Anna tightly, he did a flip and kicked the other angel spearman behind him, sending her to the ground with a smash.

Kratos looked around for the remaining angel commander, while readying another quick, simple spell. He found the commander trying to cast a spell of his own. Kratos unleashed an air blade, and knocked him to the ground with the other two.

A slightly burned angel appeared suddenly in front of him, swiping with his spear. Kratos ducked, wishing dearly for the safety of his sword. He quickly tried to move the unconscious Anna over one of his shoulders, freeing his right arm to punch the angel in the stomach. Holding Anna as securely as he could with his left arm, he tried to reach for his sword on his left hip.

Instantly, the commander was back behind him and bashed his head with his staff. Reeling from the blow, Kratos quickly regained control with his wings, trying again for his sword and rapidly chanted a spell. "FIREBALL!"

Three fireballs sped towards their respective targets, stunning them briefly while Kratos finally unsheathed his sword (taking care not to hurt Anna in the process). He quickly did an about face and plunged his sword through the chest of the male angel, who had his spear raised behind him. Then he followed it up with a super lightning blade for good measure.

Without warning, Kratos felt a spear thrust into his back. Biting back the pain, he turned his sword back and thrust into the female angel's thigh. The commander flew next to her and took another swing of his staff, swiping it through Kratos' hair as Kratos barely dodged. Kratos punched him in the face with the pommel of his sword.

The air around him suddenly hummed and he felt his hair stand. He recognized it immediately and frantically sped for the border, as a large glowing circle of light appeared under him and the angels. _Yuan!_

"INDIGNATION!"

Kratos watched as the three lesser angels disintegrated in the giant bolt of lightning. He started casting a mid-level spell immediately in preparation, searching for Yuan's whereabouts. He felt a presence behind him.

"Air Th--!!" A hand shot out and grabbed Kratos' left arm from behind, and the world disappeared in a flash of light.

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**Review!! please, please, please!  
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	7. Chapter 7: Reunion of Friends

I don't own Tales, sigh.

Enjoy!

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Origin of Hope

Chapter 7

"--rust" Kratos finished ineffectively, as he materialized. With barely any time to be confused about his surroundings, a bag was thrown over his head and he felt himself being quickly dragged somewhere.

Just as suddenly, the bag was taken off of his head before he could think of a response. He scanned his new surroundings quickly. First off, it did not look like Welgaia. It looked like the hallway inside of some base, with high-level technology. He turned to Yuan immediately, ready to strangle him except his arms were still clutching Anna with a death grip.

"Sorry for the rude welcome, if that's what you're angry about," Yuan said with a sardonic smile. His arms were crossed, like they usually were.

Kratos stepped back in surprise. "Are... are you back to normal?"

"As normal as we were four thousand years ago, if that's what you mean. Why, are you pleased with my welcome speech?"

"Superb, Yuan. Where am I?" Kratos asked, rolling his eyes. He felt relieved, even though he knew he should still be on guard. Yuan was his best friend, and they had drifted apart slowly over the last four thousand years, something that couldn't be helped. It almost felt like the multi-millennia gap never existed, and Kratos was secretly eager to see what he was up to.

"This is one of my excellent secret bases of operations against an old friend of ours. Follow me, I'll take you to a room to rest. The girl in your arms looks like she needs some help."

Kratos followed, hoping Yuan really was as back to normal as he seemed...

"Now, I have a question for you," Yuan said, his smirk turned into a frown. "What in living hell were you doing, pulling out your wings?? Don't you know there are angels all over searching for you??"

Kratos looked at him without any change in expression. They were both very good at keeping extremely aloof faces at each other. Also because of that, they had known each other so well that they could read each other without the need of facial expressions. Yuan knew Kratos was feeling extremely asinine and out of his comfort zone.

"I'm just saying, Kratos, I have been trying to keep you out of trouble for months, and you just make my job extra hard by trying your hardest to get caught! It's a good thing I was close enough to get teleport you out of a bigger mess."

"I think you need to start telling me how you got yourself back first."

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Yuan opened the door to a luxuriously decorated room, furnished with an ornate bed, bedside table, and lavish armchairs all around. Dark green heavy curtains hung over the bed, matching the green velvet coverings on the bed.

"And here is the guest bedroom, make yourselves at home. There should be water in the pitcher on the table. I'm going to go call for our medic, who may not be as knowledgeable as the city doctors, but hopefully he might be able to help." Yuan said and left, closing the door behind him.

Kratos gave a cursory glance around the room and went to set Anna on the bed. Her skin was flushed and red. He checked her pulse and frowned at how weak it was. He quickly looked at the ornate table next to the bed and found the pitcher of water (a beautiful blue-green celadon glaze on a thin wall of porcelain, complete with gold trimmings). Next to it was a cup (of the same design) and a small hand towel.

Wetting the towel, Kratos dabbed gently around Anna's face and neck. Then he poured some water into the cup, drank some first and was surprised at how fresh and cool it was (and that it wasn't poisoned or spiked or anything). Lifting Anna by the shoulders, Kratos tipped her head back and did his best to get some water down her throat. Laying her back down, he held her hand and watched her breathe slowly.

His eyes traveled to her abdomen, resting on the growing bulge. Feeling curious, he lowered his head, placed his right ear against Anna's abdomen, and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure what he expected to hear, but he heard a thump, and jumped in surprise. Putting his ear back, he realized he was hearing the heartbeat of his child. Every beat came perfect and clear, mesmerizing Kratos. He felt a sting behind his eyes. Despite all the fighting and heat and toil, the baby's heart continued to beat on.

_Little one... stay strong... we have a long road in front of us..._

Kratos dragged an armchair to the bed and continued to dab her skin, trying to cool her down.

"...kra..." Kratos' eyes widened, and he immediately helped her to a sitting position, a cup of water ready.

Anna's eyes cracked open slightly.

"Easy, drink some water..." Kratos said softly. Anna was extremely weak. She tried to lift a hand to take the cup, but a wave of dizziness overcame her. She quietly drank the water Kratos was holding out for her. She looked around at her surroundings, completely confused.

Kratos noticed her look and how she was falling back asleep. "Don't talk, rest... We're safe right now, don't worry..."

Anna nodded, slipping back to sleep.

"Go back to sleep, rest as much as you can."

Kratos laid her back down and let out a sigh as he sank back into the armchair. Exhaustion washed over him, like a wave of Sirens calling him to sleep. His eyes rested on the painting of some girl on the wall across from him. _Where does he get these paintings?? In fact, is this decor on Cruxis' bill? _Kratos smiled at the thought and sat back up, taking up the cool, wet towel again.

After a few minutes, the door opened. Kratos stood up in surprise. Yuan walked in, followed by a man in red Renegade clothes, but without the armor. He quickly introduced himself to Kratos as the base medic.

"She looks like she suffered from severe heat exhaustion. I see that you've been trying to cool her down, so that's good... I don't see that it has entered the life-threatening stage yet. She will just need plenty of rest and a steady supply of water to drink but not too much at any one time."

"Is there anything else that might be wrong with her?" Kratos asked, worriedly.

The medic looked her over and furrowed his eyebrows. "How many months is she along?"

Yuan thought that was a funny question.

Kratos looked at Yuan, then back at the medic. "I'm not too sure, maybe seven or eight months?"

The medic took a stethoscope and listened to to her heart and around her abdomen area. "Thank goodness he seems unharmed... This is a really dangerous time for her to be traveling. She was probably already exhausted from the baby--"

At the first mention of 'baby, Yuan jumped. "What the hell--"

Both Kratos and the medic looked at him, the former somewhat abashed... the latter confused, and continued slowly, "-- since the baby himself drains a lot of energy and nutrients as he's growing. She may not have drunk enough water for the both of them or eaten enough. I think you need to keep her here to rest until she has the baby... of course, if Lord Yuan agrees."

Yuan didn't answer, still goggling at the man beside the medic. Kratos noticed Yuan throwing daggers at him with his eyes, but he was troubled by the current circumstances. Staying until the baby was born was crucial... but what was also crucial was getting the key crest before Anna dies...

"Yeah, Yuan, she's pregnant." Kratos finally said.

"I thought she was just fat or something when I saw her! Kratos, what the--"

"Fine, fine, well now you know..." Kratos said, feeling uncomfortable.

The medic decided to politely ignore his superior's reaction. "Forgive my interruption, but her skin is still very hot and flushed. We need to dissipate the heat immediately to bring her body down to a safe temperature. I will go call for more cool water to be brought... in the mean time, keep cooling her off with the wet towel."

Yuan looked over at the medic briefly, "Go do what you need to do." Without further hesitation, the medic left the room.

Kratos turned to face Yuan, who was staring at him.

"Your kid, right?" Yuan asked him pointedly.

"I should hope so."

"So we can still reproduce??"

Kratos choked back a laugh. "Evidently so."

Yuan looked back at Anna, trying to regain a bit of his composure.

"It still feels unusual to be talking to you with some semblance of feeling again." Kratos said, breaking the silence.

Yuan smiled, crossing his arms again. "It's been a few millennia since we've had a decent conversation. I can't say this is the best time or place to have a reunion, but we do need to sit down and figure out what we're doing." He made himself at home in an armchair across from Kratos, who sat down and resumed dabbing cool water on Anna's skin. Yuan grinned at the endearing sight.

"She really must be special to finally get to you... and make you lose your mind." Yuan said. He couldn't help the feeling of sadness and the slight bit of jealousy that washed over him. At the same time, he was still amused at the fact that his friend had actually condescended to the level of love. Kratos had always ridiculed Yuan falling head over heels for Martel... and the irrationality of love. Now Kratos was feeling it first hand and making irrational choices himself.

Kratos ignored Yuan and said: "Anna indirectly broke me out of the Crystal's curse. Unintentionally, of course, but I really felt something special for her... Speaking of which, tell me what stage you think her Crystal is in. I do not feel good about the fact that it had reactivated while she was suffering in the desert..."

Yuan got up from his chair, walked over, and took a close look at the Cruxis Crystal embedded in the girl's hand. He frowned. "Kvar, that bastard, he wasn't making any usual Cruxis Crystal, he was trying to reproduce ours! No wonder he was all hush hush about it and acting like he was trying to make some great gift to Mithos... Though in fact... You said the Crystal only just reactivated? From what I can tell now, you have about two more months now...maybe more if she can keep it at bay from now on. This crystal may even be more powerful than ours. I can't tell exactly, however."

"Then I was right in thinking no ordinary keycrest can inhibit this type of Crystal."

"For an advanced-level Crystal, you know as well as I that only the dwarves can forge the kind of key crests it takes to handle this kind of Crystal. So, I say we go find the dwarf that's supposed to be living near Iselia."

"That was where I was going and where I need to continue to go right now."

"And do you think you'll make it there now? Especially now that you've alerted who knows how many things out there searching for you. I know we killed the party of angels that found you, but I can't say for sure they were the only ones alerted. Honestly, though, I can't even tell you that the dwarf exists one hundred percent."

Kratos stayed silent, not trusting himself to speak. There was no way he was not going to make it to Iselia and find out the dwarf doesn't exist. It wasn't possible, it wasn't going to happen. He traced the carving on the armrest, thinking aloud, "I'll make it there, it matters not that I will have more enemies to fight. However--"

"However, you are not going to go throw your lives away because you can only fight with one hand while holding an unconscious woman about to give birth in the other."

There was a knock on the door. Yuan got up to open it, and took the bucket of fresh well-water from the Renegade soldier. "The medic said to call for any further help," the soldier said.

Yuan nodded, closed the door, and went over to set the bucket near Kratos. He stood there for a second and said, "I think you're aware that this is a pretty difficult situation for Anna. Perhaps I'll send some of my men to find this dwarf and bring him here."

"Wouldn't he need his materials and tools and whatever else?" Kratos said grimly, having thought about that possibility.

"We do have a small smithy of sorts here as well, I don't know if that would be enough for him. It is not completely built yet, but with some extra men on the job it shouldn't take long.

Kratos looked at him in amazement. "You really have this place decked out, haven't you? I can't believe Mithos hasn't caught wind of any of this! Is this all on Cruxis' tab as well?"

Yuan laughed. "Well, at the beginning I did need some capital for my new gamble... however, now I have a good side business of donations and other things...

"As far as Mithos, he is really not the hardest person to fool. Most of him is very much caught up in his own sense of righteousness and blind to any possible opposition. I've been able to analyze him more in these past couple of decades and he seems to have reacted differently to his Crystal. While both of us lost our sense of feeling, I think he was somehow split into two personalities.

"One side is the ambitious, cold, Mithos... who is willing to sacrifice any amount of humans to revive Martel and form his Age of Lifeless Beings. The other side, I have seen only very few times. That other side is the idealistic boy we loved, who seems to realize that what he is doing may not be the wisest. I think, however, he is more or less taken over by the cold, ambitious half. I kept thinking, since I was able to break out of the Crystal's less than desirable curse, then perhaps we can somehow wedge the evil Mithos out of him." Yuan shook his head. "But, I would more than prefer not to cross this evil Mithos half. He is insane."

"Our Crystals served him well, rendering us as his agreeable servants for so long." Kratos shook his head. Then he thought of something, "I was rather surprised that he hadn't done more to find me, actually. During the whole journey, I rather expected him to show up on his own. I can see what you mean... that he is caught up in his own hubris and insanity.

Yuan sat back in his armchair, pinning a hard look on Kratos. "How are you going to get yourself out of this, Kratos? After getting Anna a key crest and saving her life, how can you possibly keep on living like this? You will be hunted by Mithos for the rest of your life, and that will be quite a long time."

Kratos hesitated for a second, thinking of a good response. Origin's words sounded a little insane even to himself. And then, there was the feeling that there was something wrong about what he said...

For lack of a better answer, he replied, "I have to take down Mithos and Cruxis. That's the only way... but I do have some hope. Months earlier, Origin spoke to me in my head. I know that sounds dubious, but I assure you I was quite sane at the time. He told me that he wanted to finally rectify the mistake he made in giving Mithos the Eternal Sword. Thus, he told me to find three items to make something called the Ring of the Pact. This would allow a human to wield the sword..." Kratos trailed off, still irked by what he felt was a hole in the plan.

"For you to wield the sword? What about the summoner? First you need a summoner to be able to call him forth. In fact, don't you remember that before a summoner can even think about calling forth Origin, she must be able to prove herself and make a pact with every other summon spirit first? Maxwell, aside, of course."

Angry that he didn't think of that, Kratos said, "Right, I was hoping I could skip those details and just call forth Origin on my own... I may not be a summoner but maybe being a seal is good enough." Kratos cracked a sardonic half-smile. "He didn't mention having to find a summoner first. Summoners are rare enough, this is all harder than I thought, if the summoner is required. However, if we do find a summoner, we can weaken Mithos by taking away the summon spirits..."

"How could you be a seal and call forth Origin? Wouldn't you have to release all your mana and die?" Yuan asked.

"Ah that, I remember him distinctly waiving that minor problem if I succeed."

Yuan looked at him, a slight smile playing at the lips. "Good." _I don't have to kill you after all._ "Mithos made you a major hindrance for anyone to get to Origin. It was a smart plan, trying to keep either of us from wanting to possibly usurp his power. Anyway, what are those three things we need for this Ring?"

"The Ring needs these three things: First, Aonis. Then we need Sacred Wood to melt it. And then Adamantite to polish it."

Yuan snorted. "The Ring's just Aonis! We got you to swallow the bloody rock eons ago already, what's the difference?? Seems more meaningful than wearing it as an ornamental piece."

"Look, I don't know, but Origin didn't mention that as being a fairly decent reason for me to wield that confounded sword! He went through some trouble to make a loophole for the Ring of the Pact. Seems he already didn't trust Mithos completely. He could have saved us a lot of work by just saying no to him. Goodness..."

"Ah, he probably couldn't trust you as the only human bearer of the sword at the time either. If you recall, we were relatively happy parading around with Mithos at the time. But then again, I'm sure he also enjoys red tape and making people jump through hoops for the fun of it."

"The bloody bastard." Kratos intoned.

"I agree."

"Do you actually believe me? About Origin? I know it sounds fanciful. But it did happen," Kratos asked, slightly embarrassed about it. He was also anxious about Yuan, and how willing he really was in helping him out.

"I do, actually. For the past four thousand years, you're not one to say illogical things. Even if you are making some surprisingly irrational decisions because of Anna right now, I don't think you've totally lost your mind. We need to work together if we're going to take down Cruxis."

Kratos closed his eyes in relief. "First, we need a summoner."

"Ahh," Yuan sat up and grinned broadly. "Well, my friend, now this is what I have really been doing. Finding a summoner to seize all those spirits away from Mithos' grubby little hands. And, I have found one!"

Kratos' eyes widened. "So you weren't just sitting around building up an army for fun. Now of course, there is always that chance that this new summoner will actually be the next malicious villain with good intentions after taking all the powers of the spirits."

"Please, Kratos, optimism. She'll be treated with watchful, loving care."

"How did you find this summoner?" Kratos pushed on.

"While you were still zoning out doing Mithos' bidding for the past two decades, I built up the Renegades to help me out. On the outside, they just seem like some anti-Desians, but they are also there to help me do other business... like finding a summoner. We've been searching all these years, and finally we have some information on a girl who reacts with her natural surroundings... similar to what Martel used to tell us about Mithos as a really young boy. Unfortunately... this summoner is only five years old..."

"Then there is nothing we can do until she grows up. Well, at least you will be able to see if she's a shady character or not as she grows." Kratos said, sinking back against the cushions in his chair. The thought of having to wait for the summoner to grow up irked him to no end. It was a selfish feeling, to be sure, but it also seemed like a cruel joke. Fifteen or so years... Kratos had no idea what situation he could possibly be in after so long. He had been hoping to start searching for those materials right after Anna got her keycrest...

Yuan looked at Kratos, seeing the faint lines of worry etched into his face. Try as he may to not betray how he felt, Yuan could still discern the anxiety eating at him. His eyes narrowed, no trace of a smile to be seen on his face. "You know you must come back to Cruxis."

Kratos stared back at Yuan, an eyebrow raised.

"You and your growing little family here, none of you can survive like this! Kvar will never stop searching for his precious Angelus Project, and Mithos will never let his most valuable seal for Origin go running around with a mind of his own! Not to mention, we still have to wait for the summoner to grow and train up. You can't keep running for the next fifteen years or however long! If you come back, at least you try to pretend and be smart about it all."

Kratos closed his eyes and rested his forehead in the palm of his hand, an elbow resting on the arm of the armchair.

"I know, it's quite tough to take Mithos' tantrums. But for the higher cause, nothing is impossible!"

Kratos sighed. "Even if you are right, which I'm not going to say you're not... what would happen to Anna and the child? If abandoning them is the only way, then I can't do it. Anna is as good as dead whether I go back to Cruxis or not. At least Mithos can't let me die because of Origin, but there is no good reason for him or Kvar to let her live. Let's not talk about this anymore, I need to think more about it."

Yuan nodded, and stood up. "I know you are stuck with some tough decisions. However, I want to make one decision for you. You and Anna are going to stay here, and I am going to send a party of Renegades to seek out the dwarf. Whatever he needs, he can send someone back quickly and we'll have it built for him. We will bring him down and have him make the keycrest for Anna. That will be my wedding/baby shower gift for you. This base should be the safest place for you to be. I have cloaking devices and tons of security guarding this place. The locals all think it's a Desian ranch, and the Desians don't care about anything outside their own respective ranches anyway."

For a moment, Kratos felt powerless and somewhat resentful for having to depend on anyone but himself. But then he shook his head of those thoughts and grasped Yuan's hand, bringing him into something of a bear hug. "You were always like a brother to me, Yuan. I'm glad to have you back. I will return the favor just as sincerely if not more when the chance arises."

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Please review, it's a huge incentive for me to continue writing! 


	8. Chapter 8: The Newborn

Thanks so much for all your reviews! This chapter came out pretty quick. I'm getting excited since I've mapped out a good part their future!

Tales of Symphonia belongs to me not.

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Origin of Hope

Chapter 8

Anna woke up to the sound of a knock on the door. She hadn't noticed that she had fallen asleep again on her book. She quickly called for the person to come in, as she stood up and attempted to wipe the drool off the book. It was the medic, carrying another armful of books.

Anna and the medic had become fast friends, after Anna kept badgering him with questions on cures, the baby, exspheres, and whatever else he happened to know about. She became more and more interested in all the procedures and things he did, and finally he started bringing some of his reference books for her to read in her spare time, which she read eagerly.

As the weeks went by and Anna recovered from the heat exhaustion, she took walks to the medic's office and Yuan's personal library (where Kratos usually was). Yuan often wasn't there since he still had to perform his day job in Derris-Kharlan for the majority of his time. Kratos and Anna found all the books on summoning and summoners and researched everything they needed to teach the fledgling summoner Yuan told them about. Anna was excited about the future, after Kratos filled her in on their goal. There was a hope for the world, and no matter how long it may take, at least it seems attainable.

"Anna, I got some more books on making curative gels... poisons and antidotes...and some other stuff," the medic huffed out as he laid the books on the table.

"Excellent! I was hoping you'd have a book on the gels... I was reading the book on fixing broken bones and stuff, " Anna replied as she helped the medic with the books. "Say, Nevil, I feel like I've been randomly falling asleep all day. Before you came in, I had fallen asleep on the book again, without knowing it. I wonder if I'm becoming narcoleptic or something. I've been feeling more energy-less these days and sleepy. The only thing that wakes me up are the random contractions I've been getting from the baby."

Nevil the medic looked at her, anxious and worried. "I think the crystal's nearing completion, Anna. I kills me to say it, but I think exspheres get stronger and stronger and it's exponential near the end. You don't have much time, I really hope Lord Botta and his crew come back soon with the dwarf."

Anna looked at the pile of books on the table. She had known the answer already, but was hoping for some other possible malady it could have been. The book on expsheres lay by her bed, she's read it twice already. Anna also remembered what happened to everyone in the ranch whose exspheres were about 95 finished. They became so weak, they fell asleep all the time... until the time they never got up again even when the whip lashed them over and over.

"It drives me crazy to be sitting here waiting. If I was actively walking to Iselia, at least I'd feel like I'm doing something about it. I can't help but think that I really got pregnant at the worse possible time." Anna said exasperatedly, as she sat back down.

Nevil sighed. "Perhaps the reason you feel so tired now is because both the baby and the Cruxis Crystal are vying for your energy and strength. This is only theory since there had been no documented cases of pregnant exsphere subjects, but I'm assuming you've been falling asleep more so you could conserve more energy. Every time I've done a checkup, the baby seems to be doing fine, don't worry about him."

Anna felt another contraction. "Hey Nevil, do you think the baby wants out soon?"

"Contractions happen more and more often as the baby gets closer and closer to birth. It still seems a bit too early for the baby to be due... But we've already prepared everything for the baby, so no worries there. I'll go get some honey tea for you, though. I think they just made a fresh brew in the kitchens."

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It had been about a month since Botta and a group of the five best Renegade soldiers left for Iselia to search for the dwarf. Botta had brought with him a wing pack with a Rehaird in its alpha stage. Everyone was a bit uneasy about the alpha-stage Rehaird, but finally one of the younger, more adventurous Renegade soldiers happily volunteered to fly it back to Triet as the messenger when they found the dwarf.

When Botta and his crew had reached Iselia, he had thought briefly of asking a villager about any neighborhood dwarves, but decided not to bother with the humans. He took note of the newly built Iselia human ranch, and steered clear of it. Finally, when everyone was getting impatient on finding this dwarf, Botta decided to try to flatten his hair over his ears with the eager help of his underlings and put on one of their helmets. He walked as confidently as he could toward the two Iselian volunteer villager guards in front of the village. The one on the left was short and stocky, and the one on the right was tall and gangly.

"Good day sirs."

The two Iselians looked at Botta quizzically. The stranger wore dark gray armor over what seemed like a gray dress, and to top it off, he had an ill-fitting steel helmet over his greasy black hair. However, he spoke like a cultured gentleman from the city.

"Who are you?" The short Iselian asked.

"I am just a passing traveler who wants to ask a simple question. Do you know of a dwarf that lives around this area?"

The tall Iselian looked at his companion, then said, "There is a dwarf that moved close to Iselia a few years ago but he rarely comes to the village. I think he lives north of here through the Iselia forest. You have to pass by the ranch though. Do us a huge favor by avoiding the ranch, we don't want no trouble coming from them."

"I will avoid the ranch at all costs, do not worry about that... Thank you for the information, I am most obliged." Botta did a small bow and left.

It wasn't long before they found a wooden sign that said "Dirk's : Master Craftsman (please do not disturb after dark)" hammered in the ground next to what seemed like a trapdoor.

Botta kneeled down and knocked soundly on the door in the ground. After a few minutes, they heard footsteps below the door and Botta moved out of the way of the door.

None of the group had ever seen a dwarf before and the Renegade soldiers were glad they had their helmets on to disguise their wide eyes. Dirk was a short, stocky man with a large head and a generous brown beard. He also had a strange mohawk of sorts, which made the youngest Renegade, Viks, want to grin broadly.

"Dirk, I presume? My name is Botta and these are my guards from the Renegades. We have a great favor to ask of you."

Thus, Viks, the young brash Renegade of the elite five, got to try the alpha Rehaird. He took it out of the wingpack in front of the curious stares of his comrades. This Rehaird was unfortunately a pink pearly color, since the engineers wanted to use up the donated pink paint on all the prototypes before using the more manly colors on completed versions. After a disturbing sound on the first ignition, Viks got the Rehaird fired up and gave everyone a thumbs up.

"Remember Viks, we'll be back with Dirk in one week, mark my word. Any longer than two weeks marks trouble." Botta called out as Viks revved the engine.

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"Sir Yuan!! A messenger has arrived!"

Yuan and Kratos looked up from the ancient books on summoning and summoners on Yuan's desk. "Take us to him immediately."

Viks had somewhat crash landed in the desert in front of the hangar. After yelling at the mechanics that more than just the brakes needed help, he gingerly got off the pink Rehaird and quickly stood at attention at the sight of Sir Yuan and Kratos.

"We have good news sir, we have found a dwarf named Dirk north of Iselia. Sir Botta and the rest of the crew should arrive in a week with him. Sir Botta added that if we have waited two weeks then they may have met with trouble."

"Any special arrangements the dwarf needs?" Kratos asked.

"He only said a basic forge and tools are needed for now. The dwarf said that he can only make a simple key crest when he comes to inhibit the Cruxis Crystal. He will need further study and inquiry into Lady Anna's Cruxis Crystal to forge a proper key crest. He also added that to forge a proper key crest for a Cruxis Crystal, he may need the special forge and tools in his home.

"Good work, Viks, go report any difficulties and bugs you've encountered on the Rehaird and relax for the rest of the day." Yuan said.

"Yes, sir, very good, sir."

Yuan turned to Kratos as they made their way back. "Well, that's a relief."

"Yes, since Anna seems be much weaker and more tired than usual, lately." Kratos added grimly. "Not only is the Crystal almost done, the baby's about done as well. I picked the worse time to get her pregnant, honestly."

"Yeah, well..." Yuan started, a bit at a loss as to what to say. Thankfully he didn't have to think too hard anymore because he heard a distinct whine coming from the left.

Noishe, who had been found by Yuan wandering around Triet near his secret temporary base of operations, dashed gleefully from his pen outside towards Kratos. He made a funny whine and stamped the ground impatiently.

Kratos rubbed his head and looked at him questioningly. Yuan cocked his head and stared at Noishe. "Noishe doesn't usually go crazy unless he senses something unusual, right? 'Cause I don't remember him acting like this since I first brought him back here."

"Can he go in?"

"Yeah of course. He always could, I guess the soldiers still think he's a dog of some sort. I'll let them know."

After the doors opened, Noishe dashed in, dragging sand in behind him, and shot off on his own.

Kratos and Yuan just continued to look at each other and walked faster, following Noishe.

As they turned the second corner, a frantic soldier ran towards them shouting in alarm.

"Sirs, Lady Anna! She's... she's..."

"What is it, man, spit it out!" Yuan yelled.

"She's having the baby!"

Kratos face went white. Then he bolted into run, with Yuan not far behind him.

Various soldiers looked at them as they ran passed them, whispering among themselves. Assistant medics started running past with buckets, water, and towels.

There were a small group of soldiers crowded in front of a closed door, listening on the commotion going on inside. Kratos shoved them aside, opened the door to the room and was greeted by an alarming sight. Anna, the medic, and two female medic assistants were holding her and giving her support. The floor Anna was standing on was wet. Noishe was also in the room, lying near Anna, whining softly and flapping his ears. Anna looked up and saw Kratos. Her face was red, flushed, and tired. She smiled at him before another contraction hit her immediately. Kratos had no idea what was going on, it looked like torture.

One of the medic assistants came in with towels and quietly told him to go wait somewhere else, as this could take more than ten hours.

"MORE THAN TEN hours?" Kratos yelled back.

Anna gave him another encouraging look between spasms and assured him she would be fine. Yuan, who was behind him, patted Kratos on the shoulder and led him out.

"I think we'd better go enjoy ourselves with a bottle of Tokay while they do their stuff, Kratos. I've got a special seventy-year-old bottle just waiting to be opened." Yuan winked.

_Sixteen hours later..._

A loud banging on the door woke two bleary-eyed men in Yuan's study. Yuan carefully picked made his way to the door and opened it.

"It's a boy, sir!" an excited medic assistant said quickly.

Kratos immediately shook his head quickly to shake the buzz, and dashed out the door. Yuan carefully drank some water before he sprinted off after him as well.

Anna lay in the bed, looking deathly tired, but smiling radiantly. The medic carried the baby, who was swathed in a red blanket and crying loudly.

"Here is your son, Kratos, sir. He is very healthy and doing well." The medic said, smiling. It was the first time he got to help deliver a baby (and not just study it in the books), and he enjoyed it thoroughly.

Kratos looked down at his new baby boy and felt a large lump in his throat.

"Well? Go on, hold him." Anna said, seeing Kratos' apprehensive expression.

Kratos, still unable to say anything, scooped the bundle up gingerly from the medic and cradled it as best he could. The medic excused himself, leaving the family alone for the time being. No matter how Kratos tried to adjust the bundle, it never felt right. He felt more anxious than usual (maybe it was the Tokay messing with his head). The baby kept crying.

Suddenly, Kratos thought of something and a warm smile spread over his face. "Hymlaed yw lloyd cyfeiwdurlach...orllwych a hyraegh." The baby suddenly quieted, as if wanting to hear more.

Anna looked at Kratos, completely confused. Kratos never spoke in any other language but English as far as she knew. And strangely, he almost sounded like he was singing it like a lullaby. She almost wanted to laugh and cry, the scene in front of her was astounding.

Kratos suddenly looked up at Anna, as if he just realized something. "I've thought of a name. Lloyd. His name will be Lloyd. What do you think?"

"I actually like that name. That's the best one we've come up with. What were you singing to him earlier?"

"'Lloyd' is Angelic for 'hope'. 'Spirit cannot exist without hope, the essence of life.' That was a line from an ancient book of Angelic psalms I discovered a long time ago. It suddenly came to me when I looked at him." Kratos continued smiling at the little bundle in his arms, now he didn't ever want to let him go. "You will be the hope and future of the world we're going to rebuild for you, just you wait"

Anna looked at him sleepily. "Angelic, how come I never knew you knew Angelic? I like that name, Lloyd... finally, I thought he was never going to be named since we could never agree on one..."

Kratos looked over, and saw Anna fast asleep. There was a knock on the door, and Kratos went to open it. The assistant medic asked to take the baby for his first wash, and after hesitating for a second, Kratos passed Lloyd over. He went back to Anna, who was now sleeping soundly in bed. Not soon after, he fell asleep next to her as well.

Yuan peeked through the door after looking at the baby the assistant medic carried past. He decided to leave the couple alone and come back later after his own nap in Welgaia.

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What do you think? Lloyd's finally here! Please review! 


	9. Chapter 9: The Sound of Despair

This was by far the hardest chapter to write. I have three different versions of this chapter, trying to figure out what exactly to cover. The other two would not have gotten this far... Well, this third version here flowed out very easily, and I finally wasn't haunted by the something-is-so-wrong-with-this feeling!

Enjoy! Ha ha ha...

I don't own Tales of Symphonia. Aargh.

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Origin of Hope

Chapter 9

Welgaia was called the Holy City. It wasn't really all that much like a city. No one personally sold food nor items. There wasn't even an inn (unless you count jail cells). Even Heimdall elves had an inn, even though they hated people and didn't like anyone coming in to their village.

Yuan lazily looked at the confetti floating around him as he zoned out on a conveyer belt, linking him to his personal quarters. He didn't enjoy floating around with them, preferring the ground under his feet and away from them. The confetti were what he called the lifeless angels fluttering around him. The angels in Welgaia never seemed to serve all that much purpose except decoration. The angels themselves didn't have much purpose in life either, though they didn't care.

The air was always slightly buzzing with small mundane conversations. Since the lifeless angels here didn't really have anything to do or care about, they gossiped all the time. And since they had no real feelings, they never got bored nor excited about such gossip. They gossiped... just to talk. Why they wanted to talk... Yuan didn't really know. They did somewhat remind him of the rich nobles of Meltokio... however, it would become very apparent after a while that the angels formed no opinions of their own on the gossip they traded.

Nonetheless, they periodically carried invaluable information about current Cruxis/Desian events, and Yuan never minded taking a long route to his quarters to hear what the latest news were.

"Cardinal Forcystus has reported a record number of exspheres produced at his Human Ranch. This would be the first time he has overtaken Cardinal Kvar."

"Sources indicate that Cardinal Kvar has temporarily abandoned the Asgard Human Ranch. Cardinal Pronyma has been given temporary care of the Ranch. I hear she is extremely displeased about it, and is not doing well keeping the human subjects alive long enough for complete exsphere maturation. This must surely displease Lord Yggdrasil."

"Lord Yggdrasil has been extremely vexed by the current situation. I hear he has had some trouble locating Cardinal Kvar as well. Cardinal Kvar appears to be hiding something concerning the woman that the Betrayer is with. Lord Yggdrasil is not pleased."

"I have heard that Lord Yggdrasil just had word from Cardinal Pronyma that there appears to be missing wing packs containing small boats in the Asgard Ranch. He appeared to have left in a haste and was last seen heading west."

Yuan started walking backwards on the conveyer belt, listening in on the conversation above him and keeping a lazy gaze somewhere else.

A third voice joined the gossip.

"Cardinal Pronyma just finished interrogating the remaining Desians under Cardinal Kvar. Now it seems that Cardinal Kvar may be heading for the Iselian Peninsula in search of something. It is assumed to be the Angelus Project that the Betrayer is with. However, there has been conflicting reports, since it is believed that the Betrayer was last seen in Palmacosta."

Yuan walked on, bothered by what he just overheard. He had heard similar reports throughout the week.

He had been hanging out in Welgaia for a long time ever since Kratos had his kid. Yuan enjoyed the little thing when he met him, but ever since then, a sickly feeling grew in his heart. A feeling that he really didn't want to look at Kratos and his happy family anymore. Yes, Kratos wasn't exactly experiencing an ideal family life... and it wasn't something Yuan was proud to be jealous of... oh jealous, no he wasn't jealous, why would he be! Yuan smiled mirthlessly as he entered his room and flopped on the green covers of his bed.

It wasn't a lavishly decorated room. Yuan never cared much to decorate when he was under the heavy influence of the Crystal, and he didn't think it would be wise to start now. Nevertheless, one thing was constant. If there were colors he could choose from, the items were always green. Green for Martel. Green was her favorite color, the color of life and trees.

He stared at the strange purple/gray color of the ceiling. He had been here for about two weeks already since he last went back to see the kid. Botta wouldn't be too surprised. Yuan could not risk running to the Renegade bases all the time without raising suspicion. And right now he is supposed to be busy organizing search parties and whatever other paperwork that needed to be done.

Guilt was the another feeling that Yuan tried not to think about. It was only a light feeling, but sometimes it just seems easier to not have feelings, honestly. Yuan let out a heavy sigh as he pushed himself out of bed. No, right now he needed to go back and warn Kratos not to go to the dwarf. He should have gone back days ago. But there was no real hurry. The new keycrest the dwarf made should be enough to save the lady. They can't possibly journey with a two-week old baby.

Yuan sat on the bed in mid-motion. No no, he needed to go back. He had been hiding here long enough.

So back out he went, riding through the conveyer belts and elevators, to the warp pad for Sylvarant. So the sun had set already and the stars were out, Yuan mused, as he materialized.

As he sauntered through the doors of the Triet base toward his office, feeling not in the greatest mood, he shouted an order to a guard to find Botta...

"**WHAT?**"

Botta shifted his weight as he stood in front of Yuan's desk.

"THEY'RE GONE?? ALREADY??"

"Sir, I had no choice, they had to leave... the dwarf is not able to make a strong enough key crest for the Cruxis Crystal without his tools and special equipment. Anna only has a few weeks to live since the birthing affected her enormously. The simple key crest the dwarf made at least let her stay awake, though it's not certain how much more her life was extended. I did send a couple of our best soldiers to accompany them and the dwarf."

Yuan stared back at Botta.

"How long have they been gone?"

"Seven days, sir."

"That means they are almost at Iselia already!" Yuan felt whatever blood was left in his face drain out. "Botta, immediately, get us Rehairds, we need to leave! Get the most stable versions, I don't care! They are in grave danger, I just heard up there that Kvar was heading to Iselia as well! And I'm sure he has most of his men with him."

Minutes later, Yuan and Botta were pushing the new baby blue beta version Rehairds as fast as they could towards Iselia, keeping a lookout for the travelers.

"Sir, would it be faster if you fly?" Botta asked.

"It's a long trip, Botta, I'd be deathly tired by the time I found them. And no, Rehairds are much faster."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Moonlight shone through the foliage of the trees, as Anna walked along the forest path. They were almost to the town, and her heart was beating fast, she wanted to start skipping out of sheer happiness. She looked up at the full moon in the sky, smiling with newfound hope that she will be able to see another full moon. She took Kratos' left arm and gave him a squeeze, smiling ear to ear. Then she lowered her smile down to Lloyd, sleeping in the crook of Kratos' arm.

Kratos looked over questioningly, and smiled warmly when he saw how brightly Anna's shone. "We're almost there, Anna. And by the time we get there, maybe Dirk will already have the forge heated and materials ready."

"Oh you know, he still needs to do some research first! But we're finally almost there, I can't believe it! After so long... and after having Lloyd... I'll be able to see him grow."

Kratos' first thought was to state the fact that they haven't reached Dirk's house yet, but he decided not to dampen the mood. Instead, Kratos looked down at the sleeping baby. He still can't believe he fathered a child. But Lloyd took after her mother, smiling and making such gurgling noises that even Dirk, Viks and Weller (the two Renegade guards) couldn't help but be taken to Lloyd. Soon they all offered to carry Lloyd and help them out. Even Noishe would nudge the person (not Anna) carrying Lloyd so intently that he had to give the baby to Noishe. They would bundle Lloyd up in blankets and Noishe would hold the baby up by the blankets with his mouth. When they met any vicious creatures along the way, Noishe got to hold Lloyd and stay out of the way. Strangely, Lloyd always seemed more excited than upset. It wasn't easy taking care of a baby while traveling, but Lloyd slept more often than not... and Kratos never needed to sleep, so he could tend to Lloyd's sporadic cries. Kratos was pretty unnerved at first, but after a while, he would sometimes take the infant Lloyd to a clearing in the forest to see the stars while everyone was asleep.

Dirk left the day before and took Viks with him. Since he's been away, he needed to start the fires and prepare the tools. More importantly, he needed to read up more on Cruxis Crystals and gather the right kind of ore and rune to carve. He spent a good time studying Anna's Crystal while they were traveling, writing down notes and other stuff they didn't understand. Time was of the essence, and he could walk back faster without a large group.

Ahead, Kratos could see the dark shape of the Iselian Human Ranch looming in the distance. It was foolish to be approaching a Ranch. How unfortunate that Dirk had to make his new residence so disturbingly close... However, Forcystus manned this Ranch, and Kratos was thankful that Forcystus generally kept to himself and hated to be bothered. After asking Weller, whether there were any Desians wandering around when they had gone to fetch Dirk, he received a pleasingly negative answer.

"Could we make it to Dirk's tonight?" Anna asked.

"If you're ready to go without sleep, perhaps. I would rather you rest, don't push your body harder than you already are."

"I feel so excited though! Look, I'm not even burdening Noishe right now! (Noishe whined) I'm happily walking and I'm enjoying it!"

Kratos looked ahead through the trees. "Anna look, I think if we approach the cliff ahead of us, we may be able to see the lights of Iselia in the distance."

"Really? How did you see that? Oh right, you have superhuman eyesight. Well, let's go see!" Anna gripped Kratos' arm even harder and suddenly took off on a sprint, jerking him along. "Weller! Come on, I bet it's beautiful!"

The trees thinned around the edges of the cliff, giving way to rock and loose dirt. Anna peered over the steep cliff, her heart caught in her throat. The cliff was frighteningly steep and rocky, with shrubs barely clinging on. She forced her eyes up and whistled softly. Treetops and grassland far below laid out before her, bathed in moonlight. The moon herself seemed bigger and yellower than usual. Anna scanned the landscape for Iselia, and easily found a cluster of lights together.

"That's Iselia!" Anna exclaimed, pointing eagerly at the lights. Kratos nodded, and Anna found herself searching for Dirk's place before she realized he lived underground.

Suddenly behind her, Noishe howled loudly and started nudging Kratos desperately to take Lloyd away. Birds hidden in the trees close to them took flight. After letting Noishe get a good grip on Lloyd, Kratos instantly had his hand on the pommel of his sword. Weller followed suit, slightly confused since he didn't hear anything... but if the Lord Kratos got ready, he wasn't going to ignore it. Anna turned around and looked at them, her happy smile fading to a grim, angry expression. She had her hand ready to draw out her rapier... but before she could, a long whip lashed out of nowhere and wrapped around Anna's right arm.

Faster than she could blink, the whip was just as quickly slashed into two and Kratos appeared to her right. She quickly loosened the remaining whip end on her arm and tried to ignore the heavy sting as she drew out her rapier.

Then everything exploded into mayhem. A swarm of Desians jumped from trees, or running out of hidden places in the forests ahead, and came screaming for blood.

"Push them back! As much as you can! We need to get away from the cliff!" Kratos shouted.

Kratos couldn't believe he didn't hear such a large group of Desians so close by... but there wasn't time to think anymore. He parried blow after blow from multiple sources, trying to protect Anna while she tried her best to fight off the Desians in front with a sore arm. Weller just dearly wished Viks didn't leave as he moved closer to Anna's left, fighting off the lashing whips of two Desians.

Noishe hid behind all of them, near the cliffside. He knew he was in a very disadvantageous position, but every part of the forest had exploded with Desians, there was nowhere else he could go. Lloyd started crying. Noishe whined as soothingly as he could with a mouthful of blanket. He really wished he was still in his aeros stage...

Weller felt his strength tested to the limit, Desian after Desian. He slashed away, blood flying everywhere and on his face and arms. As he parried two swords, a whip lashed out and latched onto his other arm, jerking him off balance. He felt the sting of swords slicing his arm and back as he quickly tried to regain footing. Anna stabbed one of the Desians as Weller went down, trying to cover him while he recovered.

Piles of dead Desians heaped in front of Kratos, yet more kept coming. They barely gained any ground away from the cliff. Anna was tiring, suffering cuts and deep bruises. The Desians were not hard opponents, but the sheer number was taking a toll. She hated the Desians with whips the most. If she had a choice, she always dispatched the ones with whips first.

A new humming sound reached Kratos' ears and he looked up. There was a strange, large, glowing stone floating some distance away. Two others floated equidistantly behind Kratos, surrounding them.

"I can't see anything! What is this??" Weller suddenly shouted.

The air around them suddenly became dense with what seemed like a thick, electrically charged fog. They couldn't even see their hands, and noticed even the Desians had fallen back. A sharp crack of lightning suddenly hit Kratos and Weller, stunning them. Anna felt a hand strike out and grab her sword arm, making her drop her rapier. The sudden jerk caused her to lose balance and briefly got dragged on the ground. She cried out as she felt herself being roughly lifted up and both of her arms secured painfully behind her back.

"Anna! Where are you???" Kratos shouted in desperation as he tried to make sense of the shadows in the fog. Noishe stuffed Lloyd under his belly as he crouched protectively, trying to hide him from view and smother his cries.

The smoke started to clear.

Kvar stood smiling maliciously before them, holding Anna's arms behind her back. Two Renegade soldiers flanked them, holding swords at Anna's neck.

Kratos never felt so weak in his life. His whole body shook as he gripped his sword tighter. "Kvar, you..."

"Surprised are you? Didn't think I'd find you? Didn't think I'd go torture every person in every city around my Ranch about you? Didn't think I would plan the most flawless welcome party for you? Fools, I've come to take back what is mine!" Kvar twisted her right hand so he could see the Cruxis Crystal. Anna bit her lip against the pain.

"What is this ridiculous little key crest?" Kvar laughed maniacally. "Oh my beautiful Cruxis Crystal! It may not be a hundred percent complete, but it'll work just fine! Thank you so much for your trouble, A012!" Kvar sneered.

An ear-splitting scream tore from Anna's lungs, as Kvar ripped both the key crest and the Cruxis Crystal from her hand. Blood spurted from her hand. Anna felt her body shake uncontrollably. Kratos watched in horror, tears blurring his vision.

The two Desians next to Anna suddenly backed away. Kratos ran to Anna, putting his arm around her quaking shoulders.

"No, no, Kratos, get away, get away!" Anna shoved Kratos away with the last of her strength, right before she lost control of her body.

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Review!!!!! Surely you want to read the next chapter, yes? Review!!!! The button's on the lower left! Thank you! 


	10. Chapter 10: The Sound of Hope

Here it is, the quickest update ever! Thanks for the reviews, everyone! Now, read, read, and review!

If I owned Symphonia, the story would be like this.

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Origin of Hope

Chapter 10

Kratos and Weller stood rooted to the ground in shock, staring at a horribly deformed monster... It stood the height of two grown men, skin the color of a putrid green, and a single red eye that seemed not to work. It's arms were disproportionately large and clawed, striking in every direction. Tatters of Anna's purple dress clung onto the creature, straining and holding on as if for dear life. This was not a monster... this was Anna...

"ANNA! NO! COME BACK!" Kratos cried, tears he never knew he could cry were flowing freely. He could feel his legs start to give way. Before his knees hit the ground, Weller dashed forward and grabbed Kratos, whisking him out of the way of an errant swing from the creature's arm.

"Lord Kratos, get ahold of yourself!" Weller begged as he supported Kratos back to his feet.

Kvar stood behind the creature, a wide sneer plastered on his face. He threw the crushed key crest to the ground and put the Cruxis Crystal in a pouch on his waist.

"Be happy I didn't just kill her,_Lord_ Kratos. You really should thank me for my mercy!" Kvar jeered loudly. Around him, the Desians formed a semi-circle, watching the scene in front of them. Some jeered, some laughed, and some stayed silent with frowns on their faces.

Kratos jumped aside as the creature took another swipe. He held onto his sword, completely at a loss. Weller could only watch Kratos and the creature warily, in case something happened. They could only continue dodging as they tried to think of something. The creature let out a loud howl, swinging its arms upwards as if begging for something.

Noishe lifted from his crouch a little, getting ready defend Lloyd if anything happened. Noishe was shaking horribly. Suddenly Lloyd started crying loudly and uncontrollably, making everyone look at Noishe. Noishe quickly tried to lower himself and smother his cries, but all the attention was already focused on him.

Kvar looked amused. "A child? You actually had a little brat? How very interesting!"

Lloyd! Kratos thought desperately. He and Weller ran in front of Noishe. But the creature suddenly let out an even louder unearthly cry. _Lloooyd...!_

Kratos snapped his head up. "Anna? Anna!"

_Ohh... Kraaaatoooss, killlll me, kill meeee before I lose myself againnn...please... my love..._

"No! I can't do that, don't make me do that, Anna, no, come back, Anna!" Kratos cried desperately. Lloyd let out another loud cry which became an ear-splitting wail.

Instantly, the creature lost control, reacting crazily to Lloyd's wails. It suddenly dashed forward clumsily, howling, and shaking the ground with its steps. The creature moved fast for its size and took two massive swipes, forcing the two men aside. Noishe instantly grabbed ahold of Lloyd and dashed out of the way. As he did so, the creature couldn't stop itself and fell over the edge of the cliff. It let out a massive cry and started shrinking as it fell.

"ANNA!!!! NOOOOOO!!! NOOOOOOO..."

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Two Rheairds flew under the gaze of the full moon. Yuan and Botta were getting worried. They really weren't sure how they were going to find the group, until they heard cries in the distance. Fearing the worst, they followed the sounds, even more worried about what could be happening.

They came across a steep cliff face. And there was definitely movement in the forest above. Yuan could make out the distinct white of Noishe's coat, and warned Botta to fly lower so they wouldn't be seen.

Just then, a deafening cry split the air and Yuan saw something fall off the cliff. It was getting smaller and smaller, and crashing against the cliff wall as it fell. Suddenly realizing what it could be, he pushed the Rehaird even harder towards it, causing it to start sputtering. Finally he let go of the dying thing and brought out his wings, flying towards what turned out to be Anna.

Yuan caught Anna as she hit another large branch. Her clothes were in tatters, and she was covered with blood. Yuan noticed her right hand was completely covered in blood and lacking the Crystal. He felt a huge lump rise in his throat.

Botta quickly flew over to Yuan. His eyes widened as he saw the woman in Yuan's arms.

"Botta, hurry! Take Anna and bring her to Dirk's! He might be back already, I didn't see him up there! She is still exuding a very faint life presence, do what you can! We can't risk bringing her back up there, and I mustn't be seen with her. Go go, I'll find you there!"

Yuan could hear the clashing of swords up above. He flew around the cliff, searching for a way so no one can see the light of his wings. Finally, he entered the forest, and ran as swiftly as he could towards the sound of heavy fighting... which seemed to be moving towards him. He could see movement in the trees ahead and quickly jumped up into the branches of a tree.

Kvar suddenly appeared, running through the brambles of the forest and cursing wildly. As he neared a small clearing, the heat of the air around him suddenly rose exponentially.

"ERUPTION."

The area around Kvar suddenly lit with fire, trapping him in a wall of flames. Yuan smiled. He was glad his tree wasn't included in the destruction.

Kratos walked into the clearing, the look of death on his face. Yuan could hardly recognize him, his face was so contorted with anger. Behind Kratos was one of the elite Renegade guards he recognized, fighting off Desians who had chased them that far.

Kratos said nothing as he walked through the flames of his own fire towards Kvar.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH THIS, YOU INFERIOR BEING? YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A STUPID WORTHLESS HUMAN!" Kvar screamed hoarsely, spit flying from his mouth. He was slashed deeply in various places, and his left eye was bloody. He was shaking, but he held onto the Cruxis Crystal with a death grip and backed close to the flames. Yuan noticed that he kept looking behind him nervously.

Kratos still stayed silent as he stopped in front of Kvar. Yuan realized that he had taken out the Flamberge, which he usually didn't like to use in regular "pointless" battles as he called it.

Kvar suddenly made a mad dash and hurled himself through the wall of fire behind him, screeching as it scorched his skin. Kratos merely looked on.

Kratos leaped into the air and screamed "HELL PYRE" as he flew down and slashed Kvar across the chest. Instantly, he turned around and unleashed volleys of fire, turning Kvar into a squealing inferno.

As the magical fires died away, Kvar fell to the ground, barely alive, twisted, bloody and charred. He sputtered something that sounded like 'filth'.

Kratos stepped over to him and with one swipe, he severed his head. Then leaned down and unclenched Kvar's hand, and took the Cruxis Crystal, glowing with a fire of its own.

All the Desians were just standing there now, staring at the scene before them. Kratos looked up.

"Leave."

In a mad rush, all the Desians turned tail and ran. Weller, who was holding a large wound in his side, only stood there, not trusting himself to speak.

Suddenly, blue light burst from Kratos' back, forming large cerulean wings. Weller took a step back, he'd never seen anything like this before. Kratos floated up wordlessly, and flew off towards the cliff.

Yuan decided he'd better jump down and give the poor man some direction.

"Weller."

Weller jumped a foot high and landed on his bad leg. "Sir, sir Yuan!"

"You remember where the dwarf's house is, correct?" When he nodded, Yuan continued. "Make your way there. Botta will be there and I will come meet you later."

Yuan walked over, laid a hand on Weller's shoulder, and gave him a lemon gel to swallow. "You had a tough battle... go and get some rest. Leave Kratos to me."

Weller nodded wordlessly, and began walking away.

Yuan watched as he disappeared through the woods. After a quick look at the smoking rubbish on the ground, he quickly drew out his wings and flew toward the direction of the cliff. But before he got there, he saw Noishe, who was walking towards him with a bundle in his mouth. Noishe let out the saddest whine Yuan ever heard.

"Oh Noishe..." Yuan said, shaking his head. "That's Lloyd, isn't it... Go find Weller up ahead the path. It's okay... I was able to catch Anna as she fell... she's not in very good condition, but go to Dirk's. Anna is there. I know, I know... I'll find Kratos before he does anything stupid, okay?"

Noishe whined, surprised. Yuan gave him a pat on his snout, and Noishe padded off.

"Alright, Kratos, here I come now."

Yuan saw the bright blue lights of Kratos' wings near the bottom of the cliff, and was about to rev up a burst of speed to find him when he heard the thundering scream of a breakdown... and then the flash of something he did not want to see. Quickly he flew back up the cliff and made a detour around the cliff.

_Mithos... damn you Kratos, why did you try to kill yourself??? Couldn't you remember you that you can't?? Now you've just called Mithos straight to you..._

Making sure he waited a bit so Mithos wouldn't get suspicious, he finally flew towards the two angels, looking confused.

"... never worth your time, anyway. Come now, Kratos, you can't die, I placed that spell on you so that if ever you needed help, I'd come straight for you."

Kratos was on his knees, his hands on his face, not saying anything. The Flamberge laid on the ground, away from him.

Yuan felt his heart leap into his throat. "Kratos..."

"Oh, Yuan, good timing, I just found Kratos and he lost his human woman. Come help me convince him how much better off he is. Kratos, when Martel is revived, I'll reunite the worlds and everything will be fine. Come back and help me fix this wretched world."

Kratos still didn't move. Mithos started to look impatient and angry.

Yuan looked back at Kratos. He dearly wanted to put his arm around Kratos and kick the little blond-haird vermin away from them. He took a step forward.

"Mithos, let me talk to him... alone. You should just go back and relax."

Mithos' eyes flickered over to Yuan and a slight tug pulled at the corner of his lips. "You're right, since you two _are_ best friends. I want to see you and...(Mithos jerked his head towards Kratos) tomorrow in my office. No excuses." Mithos shot the most bloodcurdling look he could muster at Yuan and disappeared in a flash of white feathers.

Yuan rolled his eyes and quickly ran over to Kratos. He pulled Kratos to his shoulder and Kratos began to sob uncontrollably. Yuan had never heard Kratos cry before, he thought he wasn't capable. He gave Kratos a tighter hug, remembering when their situations were reversed four thousand years ago...

"Lloyd... where is Lloyd??" Kratos suddenly cried and jerked away.

"He's okay, he's okay, he's with Noishe. I saw them before I came here... About... I..." Yuan felt uneasy mentioning Anna as alive since he didn't know what her current condition really was. He continued, speaking fast. "I arrived just as Anna had fallen off the cliff. I was able to catch her, Kratos...Botta should have her at the dwarf's by now. I had told Noishe and Weller to meet us there at the dwarf's."

Kratos had gone still when he heard that. He lifted his head and stared at Yuan intently. Yuan didn't know what to make of it, so he stood up, holding Kratos up.

"Is... she alive?"

Yuan hesitated. "I honestly don't know, Kratos, she didn't look good... but her life energy presence was still faintly there when I got to her. Come on, if she's okay, we need to hurry and put the Crystal back on a correct keycrest so her mana doesn't destabilize again."

Kratos nodded. Since they never put away their wings, they flew off immediately.

Yuan realized he wasn't entirely sure where to go. But, he acted like he did because he saw Dirk's big welcome sign on the ground first.

When Yuan lifted the heavy trap door, bright, warm light shone out. They heard quick, heavy footsteps running towards them.

"How is she??" Yuan quickly asked once he saw Botta and Viks run over.

"We gave her as much first aid as we could... she's still hanging on... but unconscious."

Yuan heard an audible sigh behind him.

Botta led them into a small inner chamber, where Anna was resting on Dirk's small bed, under a thick blanket. Kratos ran over, putting his hand tenderly on Anna's bruised cheek. There were cuts and dark bruises all over her face. When he lifted the covers a little, he realized why there were covers. Her dress, torn and dirty, barely clung to her body. Whatever skin showed were also covered in deep cuts and bruises. But, she breathed. It was shallow, but Kratos could feel the slight bit of air that she exhaled.

"Where is Dirk?" Kratos suddenly asked, as he remembered he was still carrying Anna's Crystal.

"He is working below in his smithy on the keycrest. He said he might be done in another couple hours or so." Botta answered.

"Since she is unconscious, there shouldn't be much danger of the mana in her body going out of control." Yuan said, and cocked his head thoughtfully." There's no one like the Flanoir doctor in Sylvarant, is there?"

Kratos shook his head.

Yuan turned to Botta. "How far along is the Trans-dimensional machine?"

"It's still in testing stage, and the Rheairds as well... Thus, it may or may not work, but if it malfunctions... the probability of surviving is not very high right now."

Viks, who hadn't said anything and was trying to be a part of the wall, took a step forward and spoke in a small voice, hesitantly. "Sirs, if I may, I could go back and find Nevil... he may only be a medic, but he might help..."

Kratos looked up. "Yes, Viks, that's a good idea, please hurry."

After Viks left, Yuan looked at Kratos seriously. "Kratos, I know this isn't the best time to talk about anything else, but we have something very important to discuss." He nodded to Botta, but before he left the room, Yuan added, " I sent Weller and Noishe, who was carrying the baby, to come here. So they should arrive any time."

Kratos stood up and turned to face Yuan, who sat down on a low stool in the corner.

"I'm not going back to Cruxis, Yuan."

Yuan shook his head. "Look Kratos, you really are honest to a fault sometimes. This is the perfect opportunity to rectify this situation! Mithos is never going to leave you alone. Then you can come back and act like you're working for him, while doing what you need to do when you get jobs on the surface. This is absolutely flawless! Mithos thinks Anna is dead and doesn't even know about Lloyd's existence! Kratos, please, you need to learn to be devious like me here."

Kratos didn't want to say Yuan was right. Being some tricky, devious person had never been apart of Kratos' character and he really didn't like the idea of being in such a tricky situation as a double agent. "You know I'm nowhere as good as you when it comes to lying. I wouldn't last a week, Yuan."

Yuan grinned. "You don't talk much anyway, Kratos, just act stoic like you always do. And nod or shake your head when you need to. I'll do the talking, I'm always the one talking anyway. It will make your life so much easier, then we can have access to both worlds when we need to find the stuff for the Eternal Ring! At least until the machines I'm building in my bases hurry up and work and stop splicing people..."

"Goodness, Yuan, are you sacrificing people??"

"They were just accidents... We send inanimate objects as tests now, don't worry."

"Okay," Kratos let out a deep sigh. "I'll go back. You're right, this is an opportunity. This is also an opportunity for Anna and Lloyd to live a normal life finally, without me."

Yuan rolled his eyes. "Quit being so depressing, of course you can visit them... just not very often at first. Cheer up, this is going to be good! Finally, I'll have excellent company on that mind-numbing rock of a planet. Though granted, we have to act loyal and loving towards Mithos while we're there..."

Kratos finally broke a smile, which made Yuan grin even wider.

* * *

Okay, peeps, Kratos smiled! Yuan grins! The world will be saved! Let the overflowing happiness in your heart move to the "Submit Review" button! Thanks for reading! The next chapter will... (drum roll, please)... unofficially be the start of Part 2: Lloyd! 


	11. Chapter 11: A New Beginning

Must write, must write! Before I start work soon and have no time! Well here it is folks, enjoy and review!

If I owned Tales of Symphonia, the story would be like this.

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 11

Inside Dirk's cozy underground dwelling, a single light shone from a lamp in the kitchen area. Only two figures were awake. The rest slept deeply, crammed around the dwarf's small living room and study.

Yuan and Kratos sat across from each other over Dirk's small, masterly crafted dinner table. A blank piece of parchment and a roughly hewn pencil lay on the table in front of Kratos. Kratos, however, was gazing blankly at the rocky ceiling, and leaning against the back of the small chair with his legs arranged awkwardly around. Yuan sat with his legs tucked in, his hands together on the table. His lips were pursed. This was not normal Yuan behavior as far as Kratos was concerned.

The happy delight Yuan felt earlier at coming up with such a brilliant plan for Kratos' future ebbed quickly into the feeling he had been trying to ignore all night.

"I'm sorry, Kratos." Yuan finally blurted.

Kratos craned his head back forward and looked at him quizzically. "For what?"

Yuan shook his head slightly. "Anna... Anna would've been fine if only I had come back from Welgaia earlier... I had heard news about Kvar having plans on going to Iselia. But I... I was feeling jealous of you with your family, I kept thinking of Martel, and I couldn't get myself to come back. I should have, I could've warned you."

Kratos sighed and leaned his head back to gaze at the ceiling again. "She's still alive, Yuan. I'm thankful for that already."

Yuan wanted to retort with the fact that the medic said she suffered a serious head injury and a damaged spine and loads of broken bones... and the fact that she may never walk again. Instead, he just sighed.

Kratos resumed talking. "I know she will have to suffer so much... but... she's still alive. Lloyd is still alive. Don't be sorry, Yuan. I was the one that intruded on your hospitality. And... even if the medic said that she'll have problems and possibly never be able to walk again, I don't believe that. Nothing is incurable. I'll find a way, one day, even if I have to beg Origin."

"Yeah, I do think it shouldn't take Origin to help... but I can't say I know what will help. Neither of us are very knowledgeable in the healing arts." Yuan unclasped his hands, throwing them behind his head and let out a deep sigh. "But thanks, Kratos. For understanding."

Yuan looked at the piece of blank parchment in front of Kratos. "What are you going to tell her?"

"I don't know."

Noishe padded into the little kitchen and rubbed against Kratos. Kratos looked at him with a weak smile. "I'm sorry, Noishe... you can't come with me this time. I need you here to take care of Lloyd and Anna..."

Noishe whined, but nodded in understanding. Kratos gave him a small hug around the head before the protozoan laid down on the floor to sleep.

"You better start writing. I guarantee you'll need more than that little parchment when you really get down to it." Yuan chided, and reached over to grab whatever book was lying on the counter. "I'll just... read a book."

Kratos stared at the light brown, mottled paper. Soon he was starting to see weird shapes in the colors. He shook his head and picked up the pencil.

_Anna_

_When you wake up, I will be gone. _

Kratos paused.

_When you wake up, you will have so much to overcome from the fall. I want to be there with you to support you... but I will not be able to. I will have gone back to act as Mithos' lackey. Mithos believes you to be dead and he does not know of Lloyd's existence. I want to keep it this way, so you can slowly recover and Lloyd can grow up and have a regular life free from running and fear. I've decided this to be the best choice._

_Dirk has offered to build a house for both of you to live next to his underground dwelling. The town Iselia is nearby, Lloyd will be able to go to school and meet friends as he grows. I will try my best to visit whenever I can. It may be a long time at first as I need to get back Mithos' trust, but I promise I will come back as much as I can later without compromising us. _

_I will never stop searching for a way for you to walk again. I do not believe this is impossible, nor do I believe any other complications you may have are incurable. One day, you will walk again and be completely recovered. Before then, I will take you flying every night I am there._

_Anna, I believe it is imperative that you use your maiden name of Irving instead of Aurion. This should apply to Lloyd as well. I want to be certain that you are absolutely safe. My surname is not common enough not to arouse suspicion._

Kratos stopped, thinking of what else he needed to write that was important.

_Dirk has made the most compatible keycrest he could. I fear greatly that you may start developing angelic traits, though you should be spared from any negative reaction. Lloyd as well, since we cannot ascertain what he may have possibly inherited. If any symptoms show, keep them to yourselves. Especially for Lloyd, as he might slip out to his future schoolmates. Discrimination is what made the world the way it is. People are so afraid of what is different. I do not wish for either of you to be ostracized in any way._

_You will always be welcome at the Triet Base for any reason or even no reason, Yuan wants to be absolutely clear on that. I would not suggest that you ever journey over there for a visit without a fully-functional Rheaird however, but Yuan, Botta, and Nevil may visit you and Lloyd at your new home every so often as well, with or without me. Botta has offered to teach Lloyd as much about swordplay as he can and has time for. Yuan and I will always be glad to give him instruction as well, though much less often than Botta will be able to._

_I also want to be certain that Lloyd does not know what exactly that I do. I can only hope you refrain from telling him something too fanciful however, which may result in him resenting us later. _

_I will miss you and Lloyd so much, I will think of you every second I'm away. Especially in a place as sterile and lifeless as Welgaia, the city of angels that Mithos crafted. I love you Anna. Tell Lloyd I love him, every day. I wish dearly that I could be with you every day. The next time I see you and Lloyd, it will be unannounced. _

Yuan looked up from the Dwarven reference on Cruxis Crystal morphology that actually turned out to be fairly interesting. He quickly scanned what Kratos had written.

"Tell her to call Dirk if she has any plumbing problems in the house, too, while you're at it." Yuan put the book down on the table, looking amused.

"Shut it." Kratos replied, moving the parchment further away from Yuan.

"Kratos, are you sure she'll be able to read that? I know you have beautiful script, but we used that thousands of years ago. I had to learn to write the chicken scratch they use these days in order for the men to understand my orders. I think they spell stuff differently too."

Kratos stopped writing. Yuan's words did bother him a little as he looked over the letter. The letters seemed clear enough... for him.

"It's okay, if she has trouble reading it, I'll offer to read for her." Yuan said with a serious look.

Kratos shot him a withering look and scanned through the letter again. "If she doesn't understand some of it... as long as she gets the main idea... And I should be able to come back often enough." Kratos paused again, looking thoughtful. "I really owe Dirk a considerable amount, don't I..."

"So about tomorrow... let's go over what kind of mood you should be in," Yuan said. "I guess there is no point hiding that you can feel now, so you should still act depressed and upset. Well, your deadpan look is probably good enough..."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_**8 years later, Anna and Lloyd's house**_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"MOM!!!"

A boy with wild, spiky brown hair rushed into the house, nearly tripping over the welcome rug.

"MOOOOMMMM!!! LOOK WHAT UNCLE BOTTA'S GIVEN ME!!!" Lloyd shouted at the top of his lungs.

Anna sat in her favorite place in the little cottage, by the large bay window where the sun shines in and warms her skin. The view from the window were of the garden she painstakingly made, and of the pine trees that always calmed her. She sat in a wheelchair that Dirk had crafted. At her son's voice, she turned away from the window.

Lloyd ran into the living room, waving a large gray pouch.

"It's a wing pack!!!! He gave me a Rheaird! Now we can go visit Triet Base whenever we want!"

Anna looked at Lloyd with warm smile. Botta had come to her previously to tell her what he was going to do. Lloyd was actually very mature in some ways for his age, and after plenty of flying lessons, Botta felt he could give Lloyd one of his own. Since Volt's power did not extend as powerfully to this world, Lloyd could only fly within the radius of the Triet Base.

"What color is it, Lloyd?"

"It's blue! I wanted red, but Uncle Botta said I would stand out too much in the sky... But I'm happy anyway, I was so afraid Uncle Botta would give me the rickety pink one we were training on! I want to go fly now!"

"Have you finished your homework?" Anna said sternly, knowing he hadn't.

"Oh there's a no need today... it's Phaidra teacher's last day! We are getting a new teacher tomorrow!"

Anna laughed. "Lloyd, do you think the old teacher wouldn't tell the new teacher what the homework is? Come on, I want to see your homework done before you try the new Rheaird."

Lloyd grumbled something about wishing he didn't tell her about the Rheaird, which made Anna chuckle. Lloyd suddenly turned back around. "Mom, did you take your medicine yet?"

Now it was Anna's turn to not look so happy.

"I'll go get it." Lloyd said, after seeing the darkened look on her mother's face.

Anna looked out the window again and sighed. In some ways she would almost prefer not the take the medication and just suffer the headaches and pains in her neck. But she knew from past experience that it would all just get worse... until she would get dizzy and disoriented on top of everything. But she really didn't like the numbing feeling the medicine made her feel.

Nevil came at least twice a month now to see how she was faring and to refill her medicine. Trauma was actually something he knew about, since he's had to treat plenty of traumatized, injured Renegade soldiers. And Anna's crash down the cliff was pretty traumatic, mentally and physically. He nearly cried when he saw Anna's X-ray. He had dreaded telling Kratos, but it wasn't as bad as he thought since Kratos was still elated that she was alive. But Dirk, who saw the X-ray, was so moved that he had instantly offered to build her and Lloyd a house close to his underground house so he could help her and the baby as much as he could. It took Anna months to recover but she counted herself lucky enough to have plenty of support, not least from a blacksmith who could build her a wonderful wheelchair and a house.

Dirk, on the other hand, had been a solitary dwarf, having long left the familiar caves of Moria to escape Cruxis' drafting of dwarves for their services. Since dwarves were by nature social beings, he had never been so happy to have a constant energetic companion as Lloyd. Lloyd was his little apprentice. When he wasn't helping his mother with household chores or buying groceries, he could often be found underground in Dirk's house learning how to craft metal or woodwork.

This was Lloyd's life, it existed in the little clearing north of the Iselia Woods. If he wasn't here, he was being escorted by Dirk or Noishe to or from school, of which he was not fond of. The Iselians, let alone the young children of the Iselian school, were not broad-minded, well-traveled people. They considered Lloyd very strange for not living in the village. He seemed even stranger that he came to school escorted by a dwarf or... a strange large green/white dog-like creature.. But the strangest thing about Lloyd was his mother. Anna had come to the village once with Lloyd and Dirk (the Iselians would not let Noishe in). It was the day she decided not the take her medicine, because she didn't want be all numb when she met the villagers. At first the townspeople felt sorry for her, that she couldn't walk. Then when they came to talk to her, Anna began conversing well enough... until she started feeling restless and disoriented. Then it started taking all her energy to try to make out what people were saying... and replying was even worse.

One of the biggest mysteries about Lloyd and his mother, was the father. Who or where was the father? Dirk was certainly not Lloyd's father, and she made it clear he was just a neighbor. Sometimes Lloyd would come escorted to or from school by someone else other than Dirk. Occasionally it was a man with blue hair, or a man with black hair, or a man with red hair. Everyone in the town treated Lloyd politely. Of everyone in the town, he had only one real friend, the Chosen girl named Collete. They bonded quickly since everyone also unintentionally ostracized the Chosen for being, well, the special Chosen. Collete was never nosy about Lloyd's peculiar life, and she never harbored the underlying resentment he felt from the other villagers. There was only one curiosity Collete had about Lloyd's life, and that was his father. She was curious, because Lloyd was so fascinated, and always talked about him constantly... though Lloyd never told her exactly what he did.

Kratos was a superhero, the coolest being on earth. Lloyd always begged his mom for more stories about his father. The reason his father couldn't come home very often was because he was an undercover agent in an evil secret organization. It was a dangerous job, and it was going to take a very long time before he can come home and join them permanently. But for certain, he was going to find a way to bring down the wicked head villain one day. And Lloyd couldn't tell anyone about it for fear of the evil men finding out. It was a great secret, and Lloyd made a solemn vow to keep it classified.

When Kratos first came to visit, he found a two-year-old boy with the starriest eyes in the world. However, he rather enjoyed Anna's interpretation of his job, and went along with it. Every year his visits became more frequent, from about once every six months, to about once every month. When he appeared, it was always a momentous few days. Kratos started getting better and better at dramatizing his work and telling Lloyd the best stories in the world. When Lloyd got back from school (if he had school) then they practiced with swords (wooden ones, of course). At night, it was stargazing. Sometimes Anna would join them, but many times it was just them two together.

And when Lloyd was asleep, Kratos would take Anna out to fly. Under the moon, over the ocean, forests, and lands (though nowhere near the Iselian Desian base). Many times, they would just sit in the uppermost branches of the trees or on the beaches, just sitting quietly and enjoying each other's precious company. Anna never did seem to develop any angelic traits... except that she never really felt like sleeping when Kratos was there. When he wasn't there, well, sleeping was still refreshing. Lloyd certainly didn't seem to develop any angelic traits or anything out of the ordinary either. Kratos was happy about it, though Anna was a little upset that something as powerful as a Cruxis Crystal couldn't at least do something to heal her battered body. A shadow always crossed Kratos' eyes when she mentioned that. He could only reply that the Crystal was meant to only enhance natural abilities... and for her sake, as a permanent mana stabilizer as well. She didn't mind so much about the Crystal however, since she considered much of the its energy came from her anyway.

Kratos never could really forgive himself for Anna's present condition. After getting over the euphoria that she was alive, the pain she actually had to put up with became much clearer. The most aggravating point being the narrow-minded discrimination Anna and Lloyd had to put up with from the villagers. Searching for a way to cure Anna's paralysis and head injuries seemed like an easy task at first, but he soon realized that unless he was a well-trained magical healer, it would be near impossible. And he lacked the magical prowess to even learn the deeper arts. Yuan had no background in the healing arts and Kratos wasn't about to make him study a whole different field. In the end, Kratos even begged the elves, but they were too self-absorbed to care about a singular human life. He still didn't let himself give up... but he could only wait and see.

Anna always preoccupied herself day by day with voracious reading (supplied by Kratos and Nevil) if she wasn't training and practicing sword skills with Lloyd, perfecting her throwing skills (now not limited to knives), tidying the house, talking with Dirk and/or whoever was visiting, trying to cook better, or soaking up the sun. She was not unhappy, but she now realized how she would never take a pair of working legs for granted again. That and a healthy nervous system. Training with Lloyd was one way she felt she could at least not let her fighting skills completely rust to nothing.

Lloyd was fiercely protective of Anna. He never complained when he needed to help her with anything. And he worked hard training with his two swords (because two swords has got to be better than one, no matter what anyone says) with the sole intention of protecting his mother and possibly helping his father defeat the evil villain in the future.

There was one thing Lloyd didn't understand. And that was school. His parents were adamant that he go to school, but he saw absolutely no use for it. Nevertheless... he went anyway, to make his mom happy. At least he had Colette to hang out with.

So the next sunny morning, Lloyd came to school by way of Noishe. As he slid off the protozoan and onto the dewy grass, he gave Noishe a big hug (Noishe tried to hug him back with his ears), and ran off to school (a few minutes late).

When he opened the school door, he was greeted by a young woman with short, white silvery hair. Then he noticed a new student sitting in the front row, who also had white silvery hair. He was so much younger than the other students in the class that Lloyd wondered whether he was placed in the wrong class (Phaidra also taught a class for very young students in the early mornings). The only empty seat was the one by this new student, so Lloyd took it without hesitation.

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Don't kill me about Anna! Ahhhhhh!!! (runs away and hides)

Review! )


	12. Chapter 12: Juvenescence

Another chapter! Man I am dedicated... or I have no life! Anyway, read and enjoy! Lloyd is growing up fast. I wasn't sure how I liked this chapter when I wrote it... well let me know what YOU think!

Never will I own Tales of Symphonia. Sad, but it just is.

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Origin of Hope

Chapter 12

"You're an elf??" Lloyd cried. They were on lunch break, and Lloyd decided to get to know Genis, the new student in class. Almost all the students went home to eat lunch, so the only people left in the classroom were the new kid, Lloyd, and the teacher. Usually Colette invites Lloyd to her house for lunch, but this time he decided to stay behind.

"Y-yeah," the boy replied.

"Wow, I've never met a real elf before!!"

The teacher looked up.

"So, Raine teacher, you're an elf too??"

She nodded. "That's right."

"You don't look all that different. I'm kind of disappointed. My Uncle Yuan and Uncle Botta said the elves are more pointy eared and starved-looking. My dad says they're kinda mean too and don't like people. But you don't seem like that."

"How did your dad and your uncles meet elves, Lloyd? Elves are not easy to find..." Raine asked curiously.

"They're uh... adventurers... so they meet many people..."

Genis looked at Lloyd then Raine, surprised. "Where did they meet them? We haven't met any other elves..."

Raine noticed that Lloyd started to look guarded and worried. She smiled warmly. "Lloyd, do you live in the village? I didn't see you at the welcome dinner that the village had yesterday."

"No, I don't. I live north of here through the forest, with my mom and Uncle Dirk, who's a dwarf."

"You have an uncle who's a dwarf??" Genis asked, wide-eyed.

Lloyd laughed. "No, he's not really my uncle, just like Uncle Yuan, Uncle Botta, and Uncle Nevil aren't my real uncles either."

"You'll have to tell me more about your family later, Lloyd..." Raine said. Students were filing back into class now, so she thought it best to end the conversation.

For a four year old, Genis was exceedingly precocious. After a few weeks of proof that the kid really did know his stuff, some of the other children became more offended at the fact that an elf three or four years younger was smarter than they were. Genis wasn't surprised that the other kids didn't really come near him. However, he noticed they didn't really come near Lloyd either, or Colette the Chosen. And they were humans, too. Not long after Genis joined the class, Lloyd found his new best friend... and the three of them formed the merry band of Misfits.

Lloyd, though, never really thought much about how smart Genis was and just found his intelligence useful for answers to his homework. Genis noted that while Colette seemed to be severely lacking in some aspects of common sense knowledge, she was more than capable of diligently doing her homework reasonably well. As far as Lloyd, he just really didn't seem to care about anything under the umbrella of "education".

"What's that? Fire spells?" Lloyd asked one morning as he got to his desk, glancing briefly at the giant book Genis had his stuck in.

Genis looked up. "How'd you know that? You were so far away and the words are so tiny!"

"I dunno, they looked clear enough to me. Can you do magic? I wanna see! I wanna learn too!"

"You can't, Lloyd, you're human, only those with elven blood can learn magic."

"Whatever, I don't believe you."

Genis laughed. "Okay, I'll teach you the simplest spell I know during lunch break."

Lloyd quickly got slapped awake by Genis once Raine shut the book on the last lesson of the morning (on math, Lloyd's worst subject). Genis decided to go to the woods behind his house, since he didn't want all the villagers staring at him.

"Lloyd, Raine thinks you'll have to join Phaidra teacher's class for infants if you don't get yourself together!"

"So you need to keep helping me on my homework! Anyway what spell am I gonna learn?"

"How to make that small rock float in the air a bit."

"Okay, do it, I wanna see."

Genis closed his eyes briefly and a small circle of light shone beneath his feet. There also seemed to be some wind that swirled around him as he chanted something under his breath.

After a few seconds, his eyes flew open and he pointed at a fair sized rock next to a tree and it raised itself about a foot off the ground. After holding it for a few seconds, Genis let his hand drop and the rock dropped to the ground with a small thud. Then he turned around and looked at Lloyd.

Lloyd's eyes had gone wide. He'd never seen magic before, and that was really, really cool.

"Okay! My turn! So what words did you say?"

"Before that, Lloyd, do you know what 'mana' is?"

"It's what the world is made of, of course. Everyone knows that."

"Yeah but can you feel like... the mana circulating in the air around you?"

Now Lloyd had no idea what Genis was talking about. He tried to feel something in the air. "Uh, wind?"

"See Lloyd, if you can't feel the mana around you, then you can't control it... so even if you say the words, nothing will happen." Genis flipped the book to the front of the book and showed Lloyd a small incantation to read.

Lloyd did his best to memorize the small block of text and recite it. No magic circle appeared under his feet no matter how loudly he shouted the words.

"See, if you feel mana, then it's like you can control the air around you to do something you want as long as you say the right stuff..." Genis realized how strange he sounded, it was like trying to tell a blind man what color was.

"Alright, it doesn't matter, I'll stick to my swords, they're way easier to learn and see anyway. What other spells have you got?"

"It took me a while to learn that one, actually. I just only started trying to learn magic and it's hard because I still don't have good control over mana. Raine said most... elves are eight years old before they even start learning magic and really get a good feel for the mana around them!"

Lloyd's stomach growled. "Mom made me some quiche, what're you having for lunch?"

Genis rolled his eyes and smiled in resignation. "I'm gonna make a sandwich."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_**2 years later**_

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Lloyd awoke suddenly, his ears set as if on high volume... the silence and the insects sounded so loud. What had happened? He tried to recall his dreams but he felt his dreams slip away as quickly as he had awoken. He got out of bed and looked out the window. There was only a bright crescent in the sky tonight and the stars were as bright as ever.

He... felt something. It was like a sixth sense, but it wasn't quite that either. It felt almost like a... feeling like touch, but it wasn't. It felt like he could feel a different kind of air moving in... There was something outside coming in. It didn't seem dangerous, whatever it was.

Lloyd threw on some clothes and made his way outside, under the stars. He looked around but didn't see anything, so he looked up at the constellations above. And there it was. There was a bright light in the sky and it was falling towards him. It seemed like a star but then he saw there were two separate halves to the light.

Then Lloyd realized what it was. His eyes grew wide.

"Dad?"

Kratos looked down, completely taken aback. He quickly landed and put away his wings. This wasn't quite the way he'd expect to surprise his family.

"What are you doing out here so late at night, Lloyd?"

"I-I just suddenly woke up and I felt something so I went outside..."

"You felt something? What did you feel?"

"I-I dunno, it felt like the air moved and different air was coming. Dad, are you an angel??"

Kratos looked at his son and sighed. He'd done such a good job coming across as perfectly human all these years. Now he had opened a whole new can of explaining to do... if he can't divert his son's attention.

"Before I answer that, I want you to tell me something. Have you felt these strange feelings before?"

Lloyd thought hard. "I never really thought about it... but yeah, I was starting feel that Genis and Raine teacher had a different air about them than the everyone else. It was recent, but I thought maybe I was just being weird. I barely noticed it actually. Uncle Yuan, Uncle Botta, and Uncle Nevil too. But like I said, I could just be dreaming.

Kratos looked at Lloyd fixedly. Lloyd was starting to think he'd done something wrong.

"Tell me, Lloyd, if we are silent right now, what do you hear?"

Lloyd listened intently, taking in the sounds of the rustling trees, the insects chirping, his breathing, and... the ocean far away. He'd never noticed that before. He quickly listed what he heard to his father.

"You can hear the ocean? Have you heard it before?"

"No, I don't think I've ever noticed it before."

Kratos nodded. "Lloyd, go back and get some sleep. Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"I'm not sleepy anymore! I'm wide-awake! Dad, why'd you ask me all those questions? What's going on?"

Kratos looked at Lloyd, still trying to get a measure of the boy in front of him.

"This is all a recent development, Lloyd?

"Um, I think so, now that you asked me..."

"Lloyd, we're a special family, so we have special abilities. Don't tell anyone that you can hear clearer, see clearer, or sense that people are different...alright? One day I will tell you more about our secrets, but for now, that will have to do."

Lloyd frowned, thinking he was a big enough boy to know all the secrets of the family. "Dad, when can you tell me my real last name? I swear I can keep it a secret!"

"You don't like Mom's last name?"

"I do! But..." Lloyd trailed off.

"When... when you're eighteen. That will be a promise, alright?"

"Eighteen??"

"Unless something happens before then... but that's final."

"So... can I have wings too, dad?"

Kratos raised an eyebrow at the randomness of the next question, but couldn't help a small smile. "I don't know, Lloyd. Maybe you will, maybe you won't. You are the most special boy in the world, so we won't know what special abilities you will have. But you know the villagers, they are afraid of different people. Keep this the family secret."

"Yes, dad."

"Now let's go see mom." Kratos put an arm around Lloyd's shoulders and walked towards the door.

The next morning, Kratos walked alongside his son through the Iselian woods. The walk through the woods with anyone but Noishe always proved to be mandatory training ground since the rabid monsters that thrived in the forest never seemed to die off permanently.

"Dad, you never told me if we were angels."

"We're fundamentally human, Lloyd."

"What does "fundamentally" mean?"

"We're basically human. We are human. We just have extra abilities."

"Oh..."

"Dad, can I see your wings again? They were so pretty, I want wings too... Mom says she doesn't have wings, so maybe I won't have wings. I hope I have wings, and I hope they're pretty too."

"Concentrate on the road in front of you Lloyd, you nearly ran into that tree."

"Please?"

"No. It is a dangerous thing to do, the evil men might notice it because it's bright and has a different air about it as you noticed last night."

"Oh..."

Once they reached the gates of Iselia, Kratos waved to his son as Lloyd made a mad dash towards the schoolhouse. He ran to his seat next to Genis. He was now keenly aware of his "extra abilities". Genis really did have a different air about him, and so did Raine teacher. Genis did feel that something was a bit different about Lloyd now too, but he didn't think much about it. Raine, on the other hand, had started noticing that Lloyd's mana signature was changing. It was slow, but it was definitely different from the pure human signature of those around him. It was a signature she did not recognize. And she was very curious about it.

During lunch breaks on most days, Genis would bring Lloyd back to his house and show him the newest magic he was teaching himself. Every time, Lloyd would tell him how jealous he was and then ask to see more. Genis' pride and joy was currently getting the stove started with a simple small burst of flame.

"I wanna try! All you do is just say some stuff right?"

"You say that every time! You've already tried it so many times, Lloyd! It's never going to work because you're not an elf!"

Regardless, Lloyd mimicked what Genis did, and indeed... nothing happened.

"Whatever, who cares about being able to light the stove anyway."

"It's so cool! In the last chapters, the book has all these spells for like calling a giant bolt of lightning or a tidal wave out of nowhere and stuff!"

It was cool, but Lloyd wasn't going to say it. "Why can't you just say those words now and get it to work?"

"Come on, Lloyd, I've told you, we have to manipulate mana too, it's not just chanting some words! And I don't have near enough personal mana to call on advanced spells. It took me long enough to finally be able to start a real fire. Next, I'm going to try to see if I can throw some fireballs... but that's two chapters ahead."

"It's faster to just use a sword and kill a monster. I'm sure a monster'll be crawling all over you by the time you finishing saying all those words and think about mana and stuff."

"So we say them far away from the monsters! You gotta be intelligent about it!"

"Too much trouble. Anyway, weren't we gonna make something to eat on that fire you made?"

"Be patient, Lloyd, it has to reach the right temperature. Oh by the way, I'm still coming to your house after school right?"

"Yeah, my dad's home again too! He can tell us more stories!"

After school let out and Genis waved good-bye to Raine, the two ran out of the classroom for the gate. Genis only met Lloyd's father a few times before and never for very long. Lloyd's father definitely gave off an altered human mana signature, but he didn't really know what to make of it since he still wasn't sure if all humans were really all the same. He also wasn't sure if the man could feel mana signatures as well. He could only hope he didn't.

Of course, Kratos had long known that Genis was a half-elf, and that another half-elf existed in the schoolhouse. Genis had told him that he and his sister were elves, and Kratos more than respected their cover. As they made their way through the forest, Genis tried to show off his newest fire spell again on various small insects.

"You're gonna burn the forest, Genis, you keep setting the grass on fire instead and having to stamp it out! You should learn to fight with a sword, it's way easier I bet."

Kratos couldn't keep a smile off his face. He loved seeing Lloyd and Genis become best friends, it reminded him exactly of himself and Yuan.

"Genis, you need to manipulate the mana so you only burn what you want." Kratos said as he saw Genis trying to stamp out another fire.

"I know! I haven't figured it out yet, that's all."

Kratos was about to say something more, but stopped himself.

"Now watch this!" Lloyd took a flying leap and diced a rabid rabbit in half.

Except Genis wasn't watching, his eyes had gone wide at something behind Kratos. Kratos looked behind him and saw Yuan.

"Ah I thought I sensed you in the forest, Kratos, and who's this?"

Genis was still staring at Yuan like a ghost. Yuan smiled and walked over to Genis.

"My name is Yuan, I'm Lloyd's father's friend."

"M-my name is Genis..." Genis was shaking in the inside. He was a half-elf! There were no other half-elves he and Raine knew of that weren't Desian... and to make things more confusing, he seemed to be friends with Lloyd and his dad, who were human! What if he tells--?

"Nice to meet you Genis, where do you live?"

"I-in Iselia."

"Really?"

Genis nodded almost imperceptibly.

Kratos put a hand on Yuan's shoulder. "He's a pureblood elf, Yuan, and so is his sister too. They both moved to Iselia two years ago."

Yuan nodded in understanding, a wistful smile on his face. "It's a hard world for anyone other than humans. I'm glad you seem alright, Genis. But I bet it's even harder to be a friend of Lloyd's, huh?"

"What's that supposed to mean! We're best friends!" Lloyd shouted as he ran back from his kill.

Yuan looked at Kratos, exchanging a knowing look.

Kratos took Lloyd up the trail to talk to him personally, leaving Genis behind with the strange man. Genis was secretly bursting to talk to this fellow half-elf.

Yuan leaned over and said softly. "There's nothing to fear from Lloyd and his family, if you tell them the truth."

"Oh.. he mentioned you as his Uncle Yuan many times, but he never told me you were a half-elf..."

"You know that's most likely because I told him a long time ago that pureblood elves hate half-elves more than humans do. And it's true. He probably thought you'd hate me or something."

Genis nodded unconsciously. He had so many questions, but somehow he couldn't find the words to put any questions together.

"How is it that you and your sister are here? Did you escape from the Desians?"

"W-we have always been moving from town to town. We're not Desians! I don't know where we came from, we've always been alone together..."

"I see. And don't worry, your secrets are safe with me... and the Aurion family."

"Who?"

Yuan slapped himself. "Sorry, the Irving family."

"W-where do you live?" Genis finally squeaked out.

"I live on a secret base south of here. I fight underground against the Desians."

"Oh... I hate the Desians! They make everyone hate us!"

"Yeah, most of them are pretty bad."

They walked on in silence for some time.

"Do you know magic?" Genis asked, suddenly excited.

"Yes I do, how can I help you?"

"I-I keep setting the grass on fire... I can't figure out how to just set what I want on fire."

Yuan cocked an eyebrow. "You're pretty young to be learning magic already. But here, I'll show you how."

Thus, Yuan and Genis struck it off instantly, and when Genis ran back home to Raine, he had a lot to tell her.

Lloyd, on the other hand...

"Dad... is Genis a half-elf?"

They were watching the stars after dinner and after Yuan had left. Kratos had almost been wondering if his son was really gaining any better hearing since he hadn't said anything about Genis. He knew Yuan didn't know about Lloyd's better hearing yet, but the lowered voice could still be heard loud and clear to him, and probably to Lloyd as well.

"Let Genis tell you himself, Lloyd, don't go bothering him about it."

"I know, I was just wondering if I heard right when he was talking to Uncle Yuan..."

"And, how do you feel about it?"

"I dunno, why'd he tell me they were elves?"

"Half-elves are treated very badly by humans and elves alike, Lloyd. And in this world, the only half-elves people know are the Desians. Half-elves like Genis and his sister are extremely rare here. Do not be angry at what they have to do to survive. I'm sure they have had to endure much already."

"Really, I wouldn't have minded if Genis told me, I'm his best friend!"

"Remember when I told you that our family is special? We are also a very rare family of humans who see nothing wrong with half-elves. I'm sure Genis had not met many kind humans who know he is a half-elf."

"Why do humans hate half-elves so much?"

Kratos sighed. "Remember when Genis tried to show you how he could make fire? You poked fun at him. Humans cannot feel the mana around them. So they are jealous of half-elves since they are half-human but they can cast magic and they also live much longer. And after receiving so much ill-treatment, the half-elves hated humans back, and that would be where the Desians come from.

"The Desians may do terrible things to humans in those ranches, but you do have to understand that the humans treated them badly before. It still doesn't excuse the atrocities they commit in the ranches, of course. But, Lloyd, it is important for you to understand why they are the way they are. It does no good to hate anyone without knowing anything about them."

Lloyd suddenly thought of something.

"Dad, is mana... the air?"

"The air is part of mana."

"So, if I can feel the air change... does that mean I can use magic?"

Kratos was rather surprised by Lloyd's reasoning ability. It was simple, but Lloyd's performance in school had been worrying him... "Possibly."

"Oh man! That means I _can_ learn the magic! I keep trying Genis' spells and copying what he does, but nothing ever happens! And I thought I could feel the different air around people for a while! But I have no idea what he means by _controlling_ the air... Can you use magic, dad?"

Kratos nodded slightly, wondering if this was going in the right direction. "Magic is not an easy thing to learn, Lloyd. Elves and half-elves have an innate instinct for magic. I would advise you not to tell Genis you might be able to use magic. Even for Genis, you need to be as normal a human as you can. When you master your first set of sword techniques, I'll start to teach you some magic later."

"Sword techniques? But you said we weren't going to start that for a while!"

"So I said." Kratos smiled enigmatically, and stood up from the grass, brushing off the dirt.

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Ah the joys of puberty... I wish puberty granted me better hearing, sight, um... and magic use...

Review, folks!


	13. Chapter 13: The Sun after Raine

Ah yes, another quick update, woo hoo! I'm sure the next one will be pretty quick as well, since I got ideas to write...

Hope you enjoy this chapter! PLZ, let me know what you think. It kinda wrote itself. Oh, and I have a question for you at the end too.

I don't own Tales of Symphonia, such a shame.

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 13

"Noishe..."

Anna had wheeled her chair to the open door of Noishe's "doghouse". The afternoon sun was high in the cloudless sky and the weather was hot. Noishe was passed out in the shade, but awoke at the sound of his name.

"I really am tired of being stuck here, Noishe..." Anna said, lowering her eyes.

Noishe whined as he got up.

"Do you ever feel like you want to just run away? Like being in one spot for so long that you just want to scream and run in circles... but I don't even have legs to run with anymore." Anna gave herself a slap on the cheek. "Look at me, I just complain now, don't I? I should be more than happy that I survived... and I am. But I still can't help wanting my old self back. I feel like a different person somehow. Don't you think so Noishe? I really wish you could talk. I know you understand me... but I bet it must be frustrating for you too."

It was a pit. A pit of despair. Happy thoughts and things to be thankful for had no place in this black hole. It was a pit that Anna found herself in too occasionally recently. She tried her best to be cheerful, to be the joyful self she remembered herself to be. Somehow she couldn't recognize that person anymore. Remembering who she used to be... but couldn't be anymore, that was what she found most painful. She had been fine for so long... even after the fall, so why did she feel so bad now? She couldn't understand what was wrong with her...and she felt so guilty about feeling that way...

Noishe padded over and nuzzled Anna's hair. In turn, she petted his ears. "I'm sorry Noishe, I guess I was just feeling extra bad today... and just really needed to vent. Maybe I'm just a bit lonely... I miss a good town, good people. I keep thinking of Luin and... Mom and Dad." Tears started to form in Anna's eyes. "And now... they're gone... in such a horrible way... and I never even got to see the graves that Kratos said he built for them... Ah, I know, I need to think of happier stuff, this is ridiculous..."

Anna looked at Noishe confusedly, as he suddenly crouched down in front of her and pulled at her dress with his mouth.

"I know, I wish I could get out of this chair... thank goodness the Crystal doesn't feed off of my misery now, it would be full to bursting by now if-- what, Noishe? Ohhh, you want me to get on your back?"

Minutes later, Anna had carefully slid out of her wheelchair and clambered onto Noishe's back. It was awkward trying to swing a dead leg with her hands to the other side, but she managed. A happy feeling welled up inside her. Now she just needed to concentrate not sliding off and to hold onto Noishe with her arms for dear life.

"Where to, Noishe?"

"Whine...whine, whine, whine..."

Anna smiled. She couldn't help talking to Noishe as if she expected him to reply back. But it seemed he wanted to leave the place as well and go for a run.

WIthin minutes, they were flying through the Iselian forest and out into the meadows. Noishe seemed to know where he was going, and Anna realized after a while, that Noishe really meant to go somewhere.

It was an exhilarating feeling to feel the wind against her face when they left the Iselian forest for the meadows. It seemed to blow the darkness from her mind. She opened her mouth to drink the wind, breathing it in deeply. She lost track of where Noishe was going, since she had never really been very far out beyond Iselia in the daytime. At least an hour past by, and she was really wondering where he was going. Now they were deep in a warm, muggy forest.

"Whine..." Noishe had paused, looking around. They had reached a rocky cliffside wall. A small waterfall could be heard nearby. Noishe picked his way around some mossy green rocks and fallen branches, finally reaching a small brook with some fish in it.

Anna looked up at the misty waterfall cascading down the dark rocky wall to a small clear pool at the bottom. It was a different world. Anna wondered if she was still in Sylvarant, since she had never seen a place like this. The sun shone through the treetops, leaving small patches of light. It was a private, secluded world that somehow only Noishe knew about.

Noishe walked towards the falls, the mist soaking him and Anna thoroughly. Just as quickly, Anna found herself in another world behind the falls. They were inside a dark cave with what seemed like a crystal clear pond with green lights in it. Anna wanted to get off Noishe and investigate, and somehow Noishe knew that because he kneeled down carefully. Anna peered into the pond and noticed that the lights were individual and that there were really only about ten of them. They were like fireflies in water.

Noishe whined contentedly, putting his head on his front paws.

"What are they...?" Anna wondered out loud. A thought struck her, the color of the lights and the green on Noishe were the same. "Are these... protozoans?"

Noishe whined again, nodding his head slightly. Anna looked at him quizzically. "Kratos said all the protozoans were killed in the Ancient War except for you... How... how did you know about this place?"

When Noishe whine again sadly, Anna realized it will always remain a mystery. She had so many questions... She wanted to ask again, if they were the first life on the land, how could there be protozoans in the first stage now? Are there other ponds like this? Whether this was where Noishe disappeared off to once in a while. She shook her head.

Noishe continued to lie there contentedly, watching the lights float quietly in the water.

Anna suddenly understood. She didn't know how she knew, but she realized that it didn't matter. It didn't matter that she had to know the answers to those questions... Noishe had long been resigned to the fact that he was never going to be understood by anyone... that is, until he becomes a human, eons from now. He just wanted to share his delight in finding a new generation of his kind.

In her depression, Anna felt singular and misunderstood. She kept it all in, not wanting to show this strange horrible new side to Kratos and Lloyd. However, she couldn't let it go since it was somehow comforting in a twisted way to wallow alone in her newfound miseries. But now, Anna felt she could finally let her bottled up misery go. She understood that she would never be the person she was before the fall. After courting with misery for these past few years, she also recognized that it was apart of her now... and not to push it away.

For the first time, Anna felt herself relax and a strange weight lift from her person. She could almost swear that perhaps she was possessed by something. But she figured it must have been the chains in her mind, loosening. Maybe Noishe brought her here for this particular reason... maybe he didn't. She only wished she went to see Noishe years earlier to talk about her problems.

The cave was so peaceful, with the soft continuous sound of the falls at the front of the cave... the soft light that filtered in. There did seem to be something unearthly about where she was, and she wondered if the place was magically imbued...

Anna rested her head on top of Noishe's, sighing contentedly. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

Noishe whined softly, waking Anna up. Shaking the hazy sleep from her head, she held onto Noishe firmly. Noishe whined again, looking at the pond.

"Do you want me to keep it a secret?"

Noishe nodded.

"How about Kratos?"

Noishe shook his head. Oh good, maybe Kratos may know more about this then... Anna thought.

"Lloyd?"

To Anna's surprise, he nodded his head.

"Still too young?"

He nodded.

"Okay Noishe, I promise."

He carefully got to his feet and after a final glance at the pond, they left.

When they made their way out of the forest and to the meadows, Anna looked up at the sun and noticed it had moved a good bit. She must have slept for about two or three hours. Oh Lloyd! Noishe needed to go back and pick him up at Iselia.

Anna had never gone to pick up Lloyd before. She always wanted to, but no one ever gave any thought as to how, since she was considered delicate in her health. She looked behind her. Lloyd was small enough to fit behind her on Noishe...

By the time they got to the gate, Lloyd, Genis, and Raine had been waiting there for about fifteen minutes. Raine wouldn't let Lloyd go slashing his way alone through the forest back to his house. They wanted to accompany him but he didn't want to trouble them. So the arguments went, and then finally Noishe showed up with his mother.

Lloyd looked at Anna bewilderedly. "MOM?? How, how did you get on Noishe? What happened? Did something happen?"

Anna shook her head. "Nothing Lloyd, Noishe just took me out for some fresh air and we lost track of time. I'm really sorry, have you been waiting long?"

"N-no, it's ok, I was just surprised, that's all."

Anna looked over the silver-haired woman standing next to Genis. "I'm Anna, Lloyd's mother. I assume you are Miss Rain? I have to apologize for his laziness, I know he does not put the care he should in education! I really don't know where I've gone wrong..."

Raine laughed and gave Lloyd a playful nudge to the head. "Yes, I am. However, some kids come with their own strange set of ideals, I'm afraid. Mrs. Irving--"

"Call me Anna."

"Anna, I am impressed with what a wonderful boy he is though. He has a good open heart."

Lloyd scratched his head confusedly. "What are you talking about Raine teacher... I'd be dead if my heart was open..." Genis exploded in laughter and punched Lloyd in the side. Anna squeezed her eyes shut and smacked a hand to her forehead.

"No, Lloyd, she means you're a nice person... But honestly, I would really like to invite you and Genis to a dinner at our house. Lloyd and Genis has talked of you so much and I've never properly met you. I'm afraid we have to go through this horrid forest to get there... however..."

"That is no problem at all, I would be more than happy to come! Genis and I have been through many dangerous places in our travels, so I don't see the forest as very dangerous at all."

Raine was absolutely, secretly thrilled. Lloyd was probably the most peculiar human she has ever met, and now she can finally study just where this boy lived and what his mother is like. His mother especially... didn't seem like the crazy, paralyzed woman the villagers whispered about. On the contrary, she was seemed sweet and kind. She also gave off a very slightly altered human signature...

Lloyd refused to add himself to Noishe, preferring to help dice the enemies they encountered. Anna stayed neutral on Noishe, as she didn't bring any weapons or things to throw. Raine really didn't have to do much, but she did whack a few sinister plants with her teaching staff while Genis burned some slime with his latest pride and joy, a fireball. And he even left the grass perfectly unscathed.

When they got to the little clearing where the house was, they found a very distressed Dirk looking at Anna's abandoned wheelchair.

Raine's eyes grew to saucers. A dwarf! Good Martel, she had never seen a dwarf before! They are just as the books describe them, short, stocky, bearded--

"Anna, goodness where've you been? I'd been searching all over the woods for you! I didn't think Noishe would take you out! Well thank goodness. Hello there, Genis." Dirk then looked up at the one person he hadn't met (who was looking at him funny...), extended a hand to Raine, and introduced himself. "You must be Lloyd's teacher and Genis' sister! Good to meet you!"

Raine quickly brought herself back to earth and resumed her calm, amiable persona. With a pleasant smile carefully restrained from a wide grin, she happily shook his hand.

Lloyd was trying to help his mother off Noishe, who had kneeled in front of the wheelchair. It finally dawned on Raine that Anna really was paralyzed...from the waist down, and ran over to help. She mentally slapped herself for not paying more attention.

Dirk and Lloyd took over the kitchen to cook a mean meat stew (Lloyd's favorite). Genis decided to pitch in and help, surreptitiously adding in veggies, herbs, and spices of his own.

At the table, Raine sat down next to Anna with a glass of kirima juice.

"Do you come to the village often?" Raine asked, trying to ease into some kind of conversation.

"If I can help it, never." Anna shook her head sadly. "They are not used to seeing a handicapped person."

"Discrimination would exist even within the human race... I wanted to tell you that I was very impressed with Lloyd's openness. None of the other school children seemed eager to engage Genis in conversation, but Lloyd took to him immediately without any hesitation."

"His father is a firm believer against discrimination of any kind."

"If you don't mind me asking, I am really curious about how-- I mean to say that Genis and I have traveled all our lives and this is honestly the first time I have ever met humans who carry no prejudice against...against anyone but themselves."

Anna smiled, she had heard that Genis and Raine were really half-elves. "To be absolutely honest, I grew up in Luin, a human town, and had my share of prejudice against half-elves. And it didn't help to finally be turned into a ex-sphere subject in the human ranch nearby. However, after I was able to escape that nightmare, thanks to Kratos, Lloyd's father, he did a lot to help me understand that the world was not black and white.

"Kratos' best friend is a half-elf. He only wishes to see a world free of discrimination and war, though for such a simple goal, many mistakes have been made along the way..." Anna paused. "Tell me, have the villagers treated you and Genis alright?"

Anna and Raine did their dance in conversation, trying not to pry too much into the other person's personal life, but being deeply curious about the other. They could have both just come right out and asked all about the other person's troubles, but for a first meeting, neither wanted to look too rude. Actually, the two were both privately thrilled to finally find a female friend about the same age who was intriguing and sincere.

It was a cheerful, lighthearted meal Raine had not had in a long time. After she and Genis said their good-byes, Raine was feeling very happy but troubled.

"Raine, what do you think? Aren't they amazing??"

"Yes, I would love to find out more about them...they are very unusual. I can still hardly believe there are people like them. Lloyd's father must be an amazing human being. I think Anna knows we are half-elves, but doesn't mind at all. And then you said you met the friend of theirs who is half-elf, so we're not dreaming. Oh Genis, it's all so mysterious, I really wanted to ask her so many questions, but it just wasn't appropriate for a first meeting." Raine shook her head.

Anna touched a special place in Raine's heart. Maybe it was because she was so honest. Or perhaps it was because she was proof that people could go from hating to liking half-elves. Or maybe because she's never actually had a possible friend before!

Raine was no doctor, but she knew a few healing spells to help out herself and Genis when they needed it. While she never had interest in offensive magic, her interest in defensive magic was always just for practical reasons. Those healing spells, she knew, would do nothing to help Anna's paralysis.

"I feel so sorry for Lloyd's mom. She always seems kinda sad underneath. I can't believe the Iselians would be so mean to her! They're all human after all!" Genis cried.

"Just because they are human doesn't mean they have to like each other, Genis. Think about it, we would much rather not associate with the Desians, either."

"Yeah, you're right. Those Iselians just don't like her because she's sick."

"I know she couldn't walk, how is she sick as well?"

"Lloyd says his mom always has to take medicine to keep from having massive headaches. The real reason the villagers didn't like her was because she didn't take her medicine that day. And she had trouble thinking and speaking after a while which made them think she was weird."

"I really wondered what happened to her."

"Lloyd just said it was a really bad fall."

"Do we still have that large book at home on advanced healing spells or did I leave it behind? Otherwise here's a good reason to further my studies in defensive magic, instead of getting sidetracked by that latest book on Balacruft architecture."

Raine spent the rest of the night (luckily it was goldenday, their version of Friday) looking through the massive book of white magic.

"There are spells to mend broken bones... but I don't think her bones are broken anymore..."

"I think it had something to do with nerves in the spine," Genis said, looking up from his favorite offensive magic book. He was looking through a new section on controlling wind.

"Hmm, usually when the brain or nerves are damaged, it will take more than magic to heal that. Herbal medicine have only come as far as healing gels... Most of the art of herbal cures are kept secret by the elves, too. What the humans have are rudimentary at best... And I am pretty sure Anna will need a mix of herbal and magic to truly get well.

"The legendary healer Boltzman was known to specialize in finding cures for the incurable, especially the maladies of the mind. However, his studies required such near-impossible-to-find herbs and arcane magic, that the book was forgotten and lost. And I think it's been lost for at least three thousand years." Raine sighed. "So much for that."

"We'll find it, Raine! It's only lost, I'm sure it's still around! I'm sure Lloyd'll be thrilled to know there's a way for Mrs. Irving to get well!"

Raine looked at Genis sharply. "Be careful, Genis. We are not here to raise such high hopes and dash them soon after because the book actually doesn't exist anymore. It was a legend, remember, I have no concrete proof. I don't even know if what spell we want to find specifically, would even be in the book. I forbid you to tell Lloyd yet."

"But Lloyd's dad's an adventurer! Maybe he knows where it is!"

"If he knew where it was, do you think he wouldn't have gone to go find it already?"

"Well, he can't use magic... maybe he thought it was useless."

"Well that true... but still, Genis, don't be careless."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Months later..._

Lloyd skipped down the hallways of Triet base he knew so well. Uncle Nevil was doing another x-ray or whatever it was for Anna, so Lloyd was free to annoy the guards or to go explore. His favorite place, though, was the coolest place on the base.

Lloyd broke into a run, turning a corner towards the Rheaird hangars. He was about to turn another corner when he heard hushed voices he'd never heard before.

"We're going to be in sooooo much trouble, you idiot. Let's go back! This is such a bad idea!!! This place looks the same anyway!" A girl said quickly.

"C'mon, this is awesome, once we make it out of this side's base, I just want to see how crappy this world is. Chill out, Sheena, you're making my arm go numb!"

Lloyd heard a powerful slap.

"I was not holding your arm!"

"Hey I didn't mind you holding my arm, just don't hold it so tight. Yarghhh!!"

Lloyd was too curious, he stepped around the corner and saw a black-haired girl giving a red-haired boy a massive noogie on the head. "Who're you?"

The two instantly jumped far apart and stared at Lloyd.

"I.. uh, hello, I'm Sheena, how are you?"

"I'm the mighty Chosen, Zelos, bow before me, lesser native of Sylvarant."

Sheena whacked him behind the head. "I'm sorry, he's an idiot, don't listen to him. We uh, just got lost, sooo we'll be going back now..."

Lloyd wasn't sure what to make of the two. "Where did you come from? How'd you get in here?"

"Uh..."

"The Trans-dimensional Portal Warp of Space between Sylvarant and Tethe'alla of course! Now go back and do your math homework, kid." Zelos said as fast as he could.

This time Sheena punched him hard in the side. "What's your name?"

"I'm Lloyd, I'm just here visiting. Are you from the moon...?? Our moon is called Tethe'alla."

"Uh... yeah, you can say that... are the Renegades training you in something, too?"

"No... I mean Uncle Botta trained me to fight with swords, if that's what you mean. You're from the moon??"

"Uncle... Botta, I see, ok, we should go now, see you later... Lloyd. Oh and don't tell anybody about this!"

"See ya, kid! We're a secret, you hear?"

Sheena quickly said a few words and a strange yellow cat-like creature with three tails suddenly appeared out of nowhere in a plume of smoke. Completely in shock, Lloyd didn't realize the two strangers had made a run for it already.

"Sorry for bothering you!" The creature squeaked, and disappeared, waving one of his paws in the face of the very confused boy left in front of him.

* * *

Yuan and Raine...? Yes or No? (If it was in the game, no way. But it could work here... well let's see what everyone thinks, I'm curious.) 

Review!!


	14. Chapter 14: For the Love of Hormones

Another update! I am just blazin, aren't I! Teaching English and being the one giving homework instead of receiving. It's a great feeling.

I rather liked this chapter! And THANKS A MILLION for all your replies to the Yuan and Raine coupling! If you hate it, don't worry, it's not a huge part of the story. However, there will be some moments. :)

If I owned Tales of Symphonia... fine I don't own it!

* * *

Origin of Hope

Chapter 14

"Lloyd? Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Anna wheeled herself outside. She couldn't sleep either. But that was fairly normal, as far as she's concerned.

Anna barely saw the outline of Lloyd turn his head to look at her. It was a new moon tonight and the stars were so bright, they slowly became a light source for Anna's adjusting eyes.

"I'm wondering if anyone lives on the moon."

"What?"

"I-I had a dream once that I met two people who said they were from Tethe'alla. I haven't thought of it in a while."

Anna looked at him curiously. "It was a dream?"

"I think so..." Lloyd figured it was time to change the subject. "I dunno, I haven't been able to sleep for while."

"For how long?"

"It's almost like... right after I turned thirteen last Sunday or something. I was having more trouble sleeping the past year, but I was still able to sleep. But after we had that party with everyone, I couldn't sleep. And I thought at first maybe I was just excited about that day or something. But since then, I guess like three days now, I just lie awake in bed. I'm still fine the next day though."

Anna continued to look at the bright clusters of stars above, Lloyd couldn't tell if she was sad or happy.

"Your father never sleeps. Perhaps you also won't need to sleep anymore."

"But mom, you don't sleep much either, I see the light on in your room every night."

"You're right, I don't really sleep either."

"What are we?? Dad said we're special, but he won't tell me why! I don't understand, I'm not a child anymore! Why don't you tell me everything?"

Anna turned her head to look straight at Lloyd. "Some things stay secret to keep us safe."

"Safe from what? I hate this, I'm tired of these secrets! I'm thirteen now, you can tell me! Why does dad have wings? I only saw them that one time when I was ten, but now he refuses to show them again. He says we're human, but I sure don't think I am anymore!"

"Lloyd, calm down."

"No!"

Anna took a deep breath, trying not to get annoyed. "Lloyd. Do you think getting more angry at me will make me want to tell you? Get your act together."

Lloyd sighed angrily and flopped down on the grass, his arms behind his head.

"In class, Raine teacher was talking about how eight hours of sleep was really important."

Anna cracked an amused smile. He listened in class!

"I asked her what would happen if you didn't sleep at all. She said you would get so tired, you can't think or do anything. Then your body would just make you pass out after a while. Even Raine and Genis need sleep and they're not even human. Half-human, sorry."

"Do you know what the Desians do, Lloyd?"

"Yeah, they were the ones that forced you off that cliff so now you're always hurting! And they capture humans and make them work in their ranches. Raine teacher said they're the cause of the Ancient War and the world's problems."

"Do you know what they do in the ranches, Lloyd?"

Now Lloyd actually wasn't sure. He did sneak around the Iselian Ranch with Genis once, and just saw the prisoners pushing boxes around.

"Uh, push boxes?"

Anna looked at him sharply. "You went to the Iselia Ranch didn't you!"

Lloyd instantly knew he said the wrong thing. Apparently his mother knew what they did in Ranches, uh oh...

"Well, I heard that from..."

"Sure, no, spit it out."

"I just went to take a peek, I swear no one saw me, I swear!"

"Iselia has that truce with the Ranch, that is true. But Lloyd, there is so much more at stake for us. Never go to the Ranch or anywhere near it. The Desians are part of the organization that haunts us."

"I just want to blow them up! Why can't we just have an uprising and take down the place!" Lloyd sat back up, brandishing his fists.

"Lloyd, if it were that easy, we'd done that already."

"Oh true..."

"Stay away from the Ranch, don't make yourself a target for them. If they find your father... If you get your father involved in anyway with them, we are as good as dead."

Lloyd felt a cold rush through his body. "Mom, if it was so important, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"You are sure getting cocky these days, young man."

"Sorry..."

Anna wasn't sure she wanted to revive the subject on what the Desians do in the Ranch. At first... she thought maybe he could be ready to know... but really, when is the right time for Lloyd to know everything... and fix everything they learned in school?

"It's unfair. It's unfair that the Desians have so much power over us. They made you suffer... they cause the war... everything they do is just evil."

"Don't you remember what your father told you?"

"That humans treated them bad first? I dunno, I'm sure we didn't treat them like cattle."

"Oh you don't know that, Lloyd, don't make assumptions. Desians are not a strange evil species. Desians are half-elves. Who else do you know are half-elves?"

"Genis and Raine teacher, I know... but they're special."

"Really?"

"Maybe they're special... like us... yeah, we're special humans, and they're special half-elves. Makes sense to me."

"Oh? And Uncle Yuan, Uncle Botta, and all the Renegades down south?"

"Ah right..."

"Think a little before you speak, Lloyd. I'm sure your Uncles would be sorely disappointed to hear you talk like that. They aren't special, and neither are the Desians representative of the whole half-elf race. There are good beings, and there are bad beings of all races. Think of the mayor in Iselia, he has a horrid temper, and he's human."

Anna was really disturbed by Lloyd sometimes. She'd rather think that Lloyd must not have gotten the right vitamins when they were on the run and that's why he's so dense now... And she thought they were doing such a good job making him a lover of all people...

Lloyd looked at the stars sadly. He felt bad about bursting out and forgetting everything his parents tried to teach him. "You're right, mom. It's just, I mean, even Genis and Raine teacher hate them..."

"They do blame them for making their lives hard to bear. But the way humans have treated them all their lives... they have no reason not to hate humans either. It's important to always question extreme ideas. The Desians are extreme, so question why they do what they do. Raine and Genis do everything to keep their identity a secret from the Iselians. Why? Hatred only breeds more hatred. You'll find that in the end, everyone thinks they are trying to do the right thing..."

"That's so confusing, mom."

"Yes, it is easier to just to think in black and white. It was pretty easy for me to think that way too about Desians until your dad hammered my head with the same speech I'm giving you. Though honestly, I think he's told you plenty of times..."

"How does dad know so much? I never really thought about it, but... he knows so much, he knows everything!"

"Your father does know a lot, but no one knows _everything._ He knows a lot and he has ideas that some people don't like. And that is why we have to be careful."

"Don't you ever get angry at the Desians though? They hurt you so badly! I get so mad just thinking about it!"

"The one Desian that truly deserved to die was killed by your father many years ago."

"I want to take revenge for you too, mom... I hate how you're so sad all the time because of them. Genis told me that Raine teacher had talked about a legendary book on healing that might help... I swear I'll find it."

Anna smiled sadly. "You don't have to do anything, Lloyd... I'm more than thankful just to have you here by my side. I would rather stay this way forever than to have you die doing something for my sake."

"I won't die. I'm special right?"

"Not in that way..."

"I know... but seriously, I'm going to rid the world of Desians--"

"No Lloyd, you're going to lessen discrimination in the world, that's how you need to be thinking."

"Ah right, discrimination..."

"Until the day those villagers in Iselia can accept the fact that Genis and Raine are half-elves and are good people... the world will never be at peace. Humans will hate half-elves, and half-elves will hate humans."

"The sun's coming up. Ah man, I just think of school when the sun comes up. I don't want to go..."

"I still don't understand where we went wrong with you... honestly, I can't say I loved school when I had to go, but I still learned some important things."

"I learn some stuff too..."

Anna laughed and hit him lightly on the back of the head. "If you do well on the math test later today...I mean getting at least eighty percent right, I'll tell you a secret."

"Can I choose?"

"Depends."

"I want to know..." All of a sudden, there were too many questions Lloyd wanted to ask. "Okay, I want to know... what are we?"

"We're human, Lloyd, in all honesty. Pick another question."

"Fine, what makes us special from the other humans?"

Anna sat in silence for a few very long seconds, debating whether to answer that question. "Hmmm, alright Lloyd... that's a promise. Remember it is only for you to know, not even Genis can know."

"I know, I know, I'm not a kid... It's the family secret. Pinky, mom." Lloyd stuck out his left pinky.

Anna smiled cheerfully, entwining her right pinky with Lloyd's to seal the deal.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

The sun was starting to descend already when Anna felt a familiar presence outside.

"Kratos! Good timing! I just made a deal with Lloyd."

Kratos put away his wings and walked towards Anna, giving her a kiss. "What'd you do, Anna?"

"Lloyd was raving all last night about us keeping secrets, so I told him that if he makes above an eighty on his math test today, I'd tell him why we're special."

"Would that not be telling him everything?"

"I think it would be good start. I want to just tell him about the Cruxis Crystals and what they are for now. You know, that is if he actually gets an eighty or above."

"For the first time, I'm thankful Lloyd probably doesn't have a chance to score that high on his math tests. The highest he has scored has been what... slightly over half correct? And that was after trying to force him to study all night."

"Well, surprisingly, he was actually stuck in his room for the rest of the morning studying. I actually looked in his room when I found it all silent. Granted, it was probably the first time he ever studied for a test on his own... Honestly, though, he is getting old enough, that I wouldn't be so doubtful of his ability to start understanding himself."

"Perhaps. By the way, I'm not sure I can come back as often as I usually do anymore... I'm worried about Mithos suspecting something. He's been a bit more curious than I'd like."

"Do what you need to do to be safe. Don't worry about us. What has been going on?"

Kratos shook his head. "I see him more often than I like when I am walking around Welgaia. Pronyma too, since I know he usually has her spy for him for things. I can't chance coming back here for at least for the next few months. I think I have been coming back too often. Yuan still seems fine, he'll tell you what is happening if he comes by. Though he will be taking extra precautions as well and staying away for a while."

"I'm pretty worried about Lloyd right now. He has been finding things to be mad about much more often these days. When he hears you won't be coming back, he's going to really want to know why. The more questions he asks and we don't answer, he's just going to get more angry and frustrated. He's not the happy kid who nods at everything we say anymore."

"Instead, he's in that abominable stage of teenage angst, I know. Even four thousand plus years from that period in my life, I remember it being pretty miserable. It's your decision, Anna. You know him better than I do." Kratos sighed.

"Obviously, I'm not going to just dump everything on him, I'm just thinking that we should just _start_. I also see it as a good bargaining chip to make him actually put some brain to work at school." Anna wheeled over to Kratos and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "I also think the need for us to spoon out the truth is getting more urgent... Lloyd said a strange thing yesterday, and I wonder if it's by some accident, but he was wondering whether anyone lived on the moon."

"The moon?" Now Kratos furrowed his eyebrows. Surely Lloyd's intelligence hasn't degraded this far...

"He said he had a dream where he met two people who said they were from Tethe'alla."

Now Kratos looked confused. How could Lloyd have some kind of dream like that? "It seems unlikely for him to have a dream about something like that. I wonder... I'll see him after school today and take him out to train."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"How was the test, Lloyd?" Kratos asked, curiously as Lloyd ran up to him at the gate from school.

"It was... okay."

"Hmm."

"Mom says she'll tell me why we're special if I get an eighty or above."

"And do you think you got an eighty?"

"I don't know... I'll find out tomorrow. It was kinda easy today, actually."

Kratos looked at Lloyd funny. He's got to be joking.

"Lloyd, how about if we just go visit Raine now and see what you got?"

"Uh, okay. But I want to go find Genis first."

"Alright, meet me back outside."

Raine was putting up her books, when she looked up as the door opened.

"Kratos! Long time no see!" Raine cried. "What brings you here?"

"Raine, sorry to bother you, but a deal had been made with Lloyd to see if he can score above a certain score on his test today. So I wondered if I could trouble you to check his test right now... As we were about to leave, he said the test was rather easy. That made me very curious."

Raine smiled thoughtfully as she rummaged through the papers for Lloyd's test. "Easy? That is interesting since I thought I had made it a little tougher than I was going to for Genis' sake."

When Raine took out the test, they both immediately bent over to peruse the answers quickly before she started actually grading.

"Uh.." They looked up at each other, shocked.

"No, Kratos, I was sure he was not cheating or doing anything out of the ordinary... Do you know anything about this?"

"Anna said apparently he had shut himself in his room all morning studying."

"You must have had quite a deal with him." Raine said, looking at Kratos in disbelief.

Raine quickly finished checking the paper and with a flourish, wrote a 92 at the top of the paper and "Unbelievable." under that.

"Anna is thinking of continuing this bribery in the future. If he continues to do this well, I think I have never known my son."

Raine looked at the paper closely, as if studying to find some kind of strange cheating device embedded in it. For the next ten minutes, they couldn't stop talking about it. Then the door opened.

"Dad you're still here? So what'd I get? It really was pretty easy this time for some reason."

Genis came behind Lloyd, bursting with curiosity. The two adults looked like they saw a ghost... whatever Lloyd got, must be pretty amazing. Genis hazarded a seventy, possibly.

Kratos handed the paper to Lloyd. "Explain yourself, Lloyd."

Lloyd's eyes nearly popped out. "NO WAY! I, no seriously, all I did was go through the homework again and look at the notes you gave us! It actually was pretty easy after I looked at the stuff..."

Genis jumped back in alarm. "Lloyd! You actually understood the fractions and decimals lesson?"

Lloyd was scratching his head and his mouth was caught between a smile and a frown.

Kratos turned back to Raine. "Thanks for taking the extra time to do this. You are more than welcome to come for dinner tonight at our place if you're not otherwise busy."

Raine finally snapped out of her daze. "Oh, yes, that would be wonderful. I have not gone to see Anna in a long while as well!"

"Alright, I am going to take Lloyd out for some training, but you can come to the house anytime, of course."

Kratos and Lloyd walked wordlessly out of the town, making their way to their favorite training ground near the sea.

"Dad!"

Kratos looked at Lloyd.

"I really, really, really, didn't cheat, I'm serious. I really spent all morning, from four to nine studying it! It clicked after I re-did the homework for the fourth time..."

Kratos broke a smile. "You really studied, didn't you, Lloyd? So you are fully capable of making good scores. Why couldn't you do this... before?"

Lloyd scratched his head mindlessly again. "I dunno... I guess everyone figured I was dumb so I just stayed that way... I was totally surprised today, too."

"I owe you our end of the bargain then. Your mother is right, it is about time you started knowing more about yourself. Especially since you are slowly gaining new traits, such as clearer hearing, sight, the lack of sleep. You have also grown much, much stronger lately as well."

Lloyd was all ears.

"It is true that we are human, Lloyd. However, the jewel the your mother and I wear--this red gem we always told you was some special promise gem between us--this is the cause of most of the superhuman abilities you are experiencing."

Kratos put up his hand as Lloyd was about to say something.

"You do not have this jewel. We honestly did not know that you would inherit any of these extra abilities. Now that they are showing as you are growing into adulthood...it is clear that whatever alteration the Crystal--the Cruxis Crystal, as it's called--became permanent in me.

"The ability to use magic and to sense the mana in the air are not traits of this Crystal, however. It was because many, many years ago, I had ingested a special Elven stone called Aionis. That may have altered my body as well."

Lloyd could hardly believe his ears. This sounded like some weird fantasy story... "Why? If it was so easy to just swallow some rock and get magic, why don't more humans do it?"

"Perhaps because the stone is extremely rare, Lloyd? And does not exist on this planet... anymore."

"You ate the last one? That's awesome!"

Kratos didn't have anything to say to that.

"Can mom see clearer and hear clearer too? She never told me whether she could. I just know she doesn't sleep."

"I believe she has said she has experienced better hearing and sight."

"So what happens if you take those gems off now? Do you still get to keep all the better hearing and stuff?"

Kratos paused a bit. "If you take a Cruxis Crystal out, your body's mana will go out of control and you will become a mindless... horrible monster. Thankfully there are none on you for you to worry about that."

"So... where did you find these crystals?"

"That would be for after you score just as well on the next test, Lloyd."

"What!"

Kratos walked to the end of the ridge they were now on and turned around. "Now, show me if you have improved on your sonic thrust."

Lloyd had performed his sonic thrust about ten times of variable quality when suddenly, both Lloyd and Kratos noticed what felt like a change in the mana in the air.

"LLOYD! GET OUT OF HERE, HURRY!!!! HIDE YOURSELF!!! KRATOS GET YOUR WINGS OUT AND FOLLOW ME!!! AND ACT BORED!!"

Yuan suddenly flew seemingly out of the sky towards them. Lloyd stared in disbelief at Yuan's wings, which he had never seen.

"MOVE IT, LLOYD!"

Lloyd felt a hand pushing him away, snapping him out of his shock. and sending him into a run and tumble towards the trees inland. He quickly clambered high up a tree, hiding in the dense foliage of a large, thick pine. Through the branches and needles, he could just make out three people floating in the air. Lloyd looked carefully at the one he didn't recognize.

Whatever it was, it had no wings, but it floated fine in front of his father and uncle. Lloyd couldn't tell if it was man or woman or machinery, but it had green hair and was surrounded by strange floating paddle-like things. Then they were quickly joined by a fourth person--a woman, Lloyd was sure--who had pink wings and was dressed all in white with long yellow hair.

Lloyd readjusted a bit on the branch he was balancing on to get a better view, and when he went back to look through his peephole, all four had disappeared and he could see that the sun was clearly setting. Then the next thing he knew, he heard a large crack underneath his feet.

* * *

Pleeze review, folks! You have noooooo idea how you make my day a million times brighter when I see reviews coming in! 


	15. Chapter 15: For the Love of Magic

**By the way, seems like some people have been a bit confused on the ages of these characters. Well if you haven't noticed already, I am taking some liberties with their ages so currently **

**Lloyd is 13, Genis is 9, **

**Raine is 22 (yes, big age difference between her and Genis), **

**Anna is 37 (but 25 in looks since she won't age anymore, which is why Raine thinks they're they're about the same age!). **

**Sheena is 18, Zelos is 19. **

**Anyway, it's not like it's so important, but I figured I'd just clear it up here! I found somewhere that in the game Zelos was 22, while Raine was 23! I was surprised how old Zelos was in the game... ok, old being relative, of course.**

In this story, too, only Mithos gets to phase out and appear wherever the crap he wants. Everyone else has to depend on legs and wings and... whatever Pronyma does to float around... ok, machinery! )

Alrighty! So, if anything else doesn't seem to make sense, let me know! It's fun to dissect the canon and put it back together for my new, improved needs... muahahaha!  


**I wrote like three versions of this chapter... anyway, here it is! Enjoy and review! **

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 15: Trust

Lloyd hung precariously onto a thin tree branch he managed to grab onto right when the branch below him gave way. He could hear the larger branch crashing through the rest of the branches below. Then he heard a crack closer to his ear.

"NONONONONONONONO," Lloyd looked frantically around at any other branch he could grab onto, but the act of trying to reach for anything closer just made his current branch snap faster.

Lloyd desperately tried to grab onto anything else but he was falling too fast and his hand just slipped right off whatever branch or cluster of needles he could grab onto. Lloyd finally squeezed his eyes shut, pretending he could form wings of his own.

Instantly, he felt a strong burst of his own mana energy explode from his back. His eyes flew open and he quickly looked behind him in disbelief.

He grinned so wide, his cheeks hurt. Then he started hooting loudly and laughing like a maniac.

"OH MARTEL, I AM SO AWESOME!" Lloyd shouted, and tried to flap his new wings. "I WISH DAD WAS HERE! MY WINGS ARE SO MUCH COO--!"

However, Lloyd found himself face-planted on the ground anyway.

"Dammit. Whatever." Lloyd got up, spat some dirt out and wiped the dirt off his face.

Within seconds, Lloyd was back gazing smugly at his new, bright, beautiful, translucent wings. They were much larger than his dad's, they actually looked like more like bird wings instead of the fairy-ish wings he saw on his dad, Uncle Yuan, and that woman that was with them earlier. Not to mention, the color of his wings seemed to span the colors of the dawn sky from yellows and pinks, to purples and blues. Much nicer.

For the next ten minutes, he flapped his wings hard to try to get himself off the ground. Very quickly, his excitement turned to frustration. He kept blowing himself backward instead of _up_. Why??

Finally, as if the crows were laughing and cackling too hard at him from the trees, a couple of them flew down on the ground in front of Lloyd and spread their wings. After five minutes of trying to decipher what the birds were squawking at, Lloyd realized he needed to rotate his wings so they were as parallel to the ground as he could get them before flapping them.

Five minutes later, Lloyd found himself crashing into trees or falling hard on the ground when he failed to get a good bunch of air under his wings. The crows and other birds flew around him, enjoying his painful attempts to keep afloat. He slowly flew in the direction of his home, followed by a flock of amused birds. A couple times, he discovered his wings gone after a crash and had to concentrate on getting them out again.

It was when he was sliding down another tree that he smashed into (but with wings intact), that he realized he wasn't alone anymore.

When he peeled himself away from the tree and looked to his left, he froze, all the blood draining from his face.

Raine was standing in front of him ten feet away, staring at him with eyes wide as saucers.

"R-raine teacher!" Lloyd cried and quickly tried to figure out how to consciously make his wings disappear. Thankfully it only took that thought to make them vanish in a sparkle of feathers.

Raine took a step forward. "Lloyd...?"

Lloyd took a step back. "I-I-I only just found out about it a few minutes ago... I-I don't know! Please don't tell!! This is-- this was all supposed to be a secret... oh Martel..."

Raine quickly tried to regain some composure. The scene in front of her seemed to play out like her and Genis being discovered they were half-elves. "It's okay Lloyd... I always felt you had a different mana signature from the other humans... I won't give you away..."

Lloyd had sunk to the ground, tearing at his hair. "No...Mom and Dad'll kill me..."

Raine walked over to Lloyd cautiously. "Lloyd, I'm sorry... I just want to help... Genis and I just want to help..."

"Mom only just started telling me secrets about our family yesterday... I don't know anything!"

Now Raine knelt down and put a hand on Lloyd. She was starting to really feel bad about the situation... as excited as she was in discovering it. "Come, it's not your fault, it was mine. Your mother will understand. Where is your father? Wasn't he training you?"

Lloyd suddenly stopped what he was doing and stared at her. "Dad! That's right, I-I need to tell mom! I think dad's in trouble... Uncle Yuan suddenly showed up and told me to run away, then when I was hiding I saw two others with them... dad might've blown his cover!"

"Lloyd, calm down, we'll figure this out. Let's go back to the house first." Raine helped Lloyd to his feet. "Well, let me heal you a bit first, you're scratched and bruised all over."

Lloyd stood still as she administered first aid. Raine saw his cuts heal and his bruises disappear, but his face was still as ashen as ever.

"Please! Don't tell my mom! not yet, anyway... She doesn't even know about it... Don't tell Genis either!"

"Of course, you should be the one to tell your mother. I won't tell Genis either, that should be up to you." Raine suddenly took him by the shoulders, looking down at him steadily. "Lloyd, it is vital that you never draw those wings again until you learn how to shield your mana signature. The energy released when you formed those wings were so strong that I hope the Desians at the Ranch haven't noticed. It was because I sensed it that I came out to investigate and found you."

Lloyd looked even more pale. "D-do I have to know magic to shield mana?"

Raine realized her mistake. "Yes... yes you do."

"Then...then can you teach me??"

She looked at him strangely. "Can you even sense mana at all, Lloyd?"

"Yeah, yeah I can! Like I can tell you, Genis, Uncle Yuan, and the other Renegades are different. I just don't know how to control the mana... Dad told me he wasn't going to teach me how to do any magic until I mastered the first set of sword techniques! But... but it sounds like this shielding mana signature thing is way important..." Some color rushed back into Lloyd's cheeks.

Raine was getting more and more amazed and intrigued by the boy in front of her. It was like seeing a research experiment suddenly come together and head in the right direction. She had to manually keep a wild smile off her face.

"So your father can use magic as well?"

Lloyd turned silent again.

"I'm sorry, I won't ask again."

As they were walking back to the house in silence, Lloyd suddenly spoke up. "Yeah... yeah he can... but I've never seen my dad do any magic actually..."

There were so many questions Raine was just bursting to ask. But she realized Lloyd actually may not know the answers to a lot of them. This was going to take some careful treading in the water...

Raine gave him a warm smile. "Your wings were really magnificent. They seemed to be made of pure mana energy... today was the first day you had them?"

"Yeah, I just discovered them today when I fell out of the tree I was hiding in. So if I learn the shield spell then I can bring out my wings again?"

"It's a hard spell, even Genis hasn't learned it yet. And it can only shield your presence for a certain period of time. So it may mask the burst of mana when you take out your wings, but after that, people can still feel your individual presence if you're close enough. You'll have to be very patient learning it, Lloyd. You really should start with basic spells first."

"That's fine too, I'd be happy just to learn any magic! I bet Genis'll be so mad when he finds out I can do magic too!"

"Oh, he'll be surprised, but I'm sure he won't be mad for very long before he'll actually be really happy about it."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

In the days afterwards, something constantly bothered Raine. Something wasn't right. Ever since she saw those wings, what could it mean? That Lloyd was an angel? Then, Kratos must be an angel too. Maybe even Anna, but her mana signature wasn't quite as skewed as Kratos or Lloyd.

Angels have never been known to come down to the land except to help direct the Chosen during her journey of Regeneration... Who were they? Who is Kratos, exactly? Even though they claim to be human, how come they can sense magic and use magic as well?

Raine sat at her desk at home, looking over the lesson plan for the next day. For the history lesson, they were to cover the Legend of Spiritua, the last Chosen to successfully complete the journey and become an angel.

Lloyd looked like no holy angel, Raine thought, slumping back in her chair. They must be something else... but there was nothing else Lloyd could be. Raine wasn't about to pass judgement on Kratos yet, since she hadn't observed any wings on him.

"Raine? Are you okay?"

"Yes, Genis." Raine replied automatically. Then sighed heavily. "Oh, I'm just troubled about the Irving family again. They are such a conundrum."

Genis put down his math book and pencil. "Lloyd kept wanting to borrow my magic book after school today. I kept telling him it's useless but he kept saying he just likes to look at it. I thought he finally realized he couldn't do magic a long time ago. I don't know why he's trying again. I finally just let him have it for the day."

"You did?"

"Why do you look so worried?" Genis asked, confused.

"I don't know, Genis. What if he actually can use magic...?"

Genis put his chin on a fist. "That'd be weird, but cool I guess... then I'd have someone to practice with. His mana is crazy now too, yeah who knows, maybe he _can_ use magic with that kind of signature."

Raine smiled. "You should ask him."

"Maybe I will!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Colette!"

Lloyd ran after his blonde-haired friend, who was making her way to her house for lunch. She turned around.

"Colette, I saw you nod off in class today!"

Colette giggled. "I did? Well, I know Spiritua's legend really well, so it wasn't so interesting!"

"It's terrible though, does it mean you'll have to go through all those trials too?"

"It's to save the world and seal away those Desians!"

"I know, but it's so dangerous! And no one's made it since Spiritua..."

Colette looked down at her shoes. "I know. But it's for the peace of the world. And I'll become an angel too, like Spiritua!"

"Spiritua became an angel? Raine teacher didn't say anything about that."

Colette turned around and started walking again, quickly joined by Lloyd at her side.

"That's what Phaidra said, if we succeed then we become an angel."

"With wings and stuff?" Lloyd asked. "What other special things do angels have?"

"Well I just know about the wings. It'd be really pretty though. I just think about that."

"I'm sure you'll be able to do it! I'll make sure you're safe the whole way through!"

Colette beamed and hugged Lloyd. "Really? You'd come?? But it's so dangerous..."

"Nah, the journey doesn't start until you're sixteen, so I still have some years to train harder! I'll be totally unbeatable! Just you watch!"

"Hey, Lloyd!!"

They turned around to see Genis sprinting after them.

"Lloyd, do you have my book?"

"Oh right, okay Colette, I'll see you after lunch."

Genis looked at Lloyd strangely as they trotted back to the schoolhouse together. "Hey, so did you get any magic to work?"

Lloyd looked back at Genis, not saying anything.

"Well? Still the same right?" Genis was really starting to feel unsure about Lloyd's abilities.

"I just told you I like to look at it..." Lloyd said quietly.

"What were you looking at?"

"Fire spells are cool."

"Lightning is way cooler!"

"Nah, did you see the one for Explosion? It's so awesome!"

"Doesn't beat Indignation, that one's at the end of the book, so it's got to be the strongest. And it's a lightning spell."

"Raine teacher says lightning causes forest fires, so in the end fire is the one that does all the damage."

"Whatever, Lloyd!"

Back in the classroom, Lloyd took out the book and handed it back to Genis. Then they sat down and took out their lunch. Genis noticed that Lloyd kept staring at the small stove in the middle of the room.

"Are you cold Lloyd? Why do you keep star-- OH MARTEL!"

The stove exploded in a great ball of fire, sending shards of metal everywhere and burning coal. Genis jumped out of his chair, followed by Raine who swiftly casting a protective barrier around all three of them. Genis quickly readied an aqua edge and drenched the room, leaving Lloyd and Raine to stamp out whatever bits of fire was left.

"WHOA, LLOYD, DID YOU DO THAT???" Genis cried, staring at him in utter disbelief. Raine looked at Lloyd curiously.

"No."

"No way, cause I sure didn't do it... Lloyd you _can _do magic! Why didn't you just tell me before??"

Lloyd looked really uncomfortable now. He really didn't think he was going to make the stove explode of all things, he just wanted to light a small fire. And now, he is just letting all sorts of secrets out, what was he doing??

"It's totally recent, okay? I didn't know."

Raine went around picking up soggy papers and books off the floor, trying to dry them with some kind of drying spell. She motioned Genis to calm down, then she looked at Lloyd.

"What spell were you trying to cast?"

"Just the easiest fire one..."

All three were looking at the spot where the stove used to be. "You have incredible power behind your spells, Lloyd. I think it's very important that we help you learn how to control the mana more effectively soon."

"Lloyd! It's cool you can actually do magic! But how are you able to??"

Lloyd bent down to pick up a piece of the metal stove. "I don't know, Genis..."

Raine gave Genis a sharp look. Genis wondered why Raine seemed so nonplussed by Lloyd's sudden magical capability.

"Well, it's still cool, we can practice together now! You just need to tone the spells down a bit, that's all."

"It's hard... I had been trying to figure it out all night. Everything I tried seemed to way stronger than it should be."

"Come by our house after class, Lloyd, we'll help you out. But first, let's try to clean this place before the students get back." Raine said, picking up the pieces of stove lying around.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Months passed by, without a word from Kratos. Anna kept hoping that perhaps it was just part of his plan of not coming back as often, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. It didn't help that Lloyd would bring up the subject every day that he wants to leave and go find his dad, who he believes is in great mortal danger. She could only tell him to keep waiting and not do anything rash.

The Renegades haven't heard anything from Yuan either. That worried both Anna and Lloyd more, since Yuan had apparently, never taken this long before coming back to visit.

Thus, Anna and Lloyd had taken to visiting the base almost every week to see if there were any news. And that was where they were now.

It was a warm Sunday morning, when Genis and Raine went out for a walk on the meadows near the woods of Iselia. Mostly, Genis wanted to find a place far away from the village so he could practice his magic in peace since the spells were getting rather violent and large. Raine didn't mind practicing her own defensive spells at the same time. It was their magic time together (unless Lloyd joined in on a free weekend), and they enjoyed being outside more than in.

Genis went through the motion of casting every spell he's learned so far--fireballs, wind blades, stone blasts, aqua edges, and now, calling forth a bolt of lightning.

It was when he was casting lightning for the fifth time (after taking many orange gels) that he felt it.

He looked at Raine, who had already stopped what she was doing and was staring at the forest suspiciously.

"Raine? It's a half-elf, right? but different..."

"I swear, everything that comes out of that forest has altered mana signatures," Raine said exasperatedly. "Be on guard. It may be some kind of Desian."

They stood there for five tense minutes, waiting and watching. Finally, a boy about Lloyd's age walked out from behind the trees.

Genis exhaled slowly. "Who...who are you?"

"Who are _you?"_

Raine took a step forward. "We're not Desian, are you?"

The boy stood there for a few seconds as if deciding what to say. "...No, no I'm not. Do you live around here?"

"We live in the village of Iselia." Raine answered cautiously.

The boy looked surprised. "How?"

"We say we're full-blood elves, they don't know the difference. But they seem nice enough right now." Genis said.

The boy spat on the ground. "Once they find out, they'll just try to lynch you."

"Well, some of them are actually really nice--"

"I'm searching for someone. Have you seen a red-haired man in purple around here?"

Genis was about to say something, when Raine cut him off. "No, we haven't. Is this man human or half-elf?"

"Human. He killed my sister."

* * *

Comments? Questions? Critiques? REVIEW and your luck will go up by 10 points. 


	16. Chapter 16: The Prisoners of Heaven

**Happy Holidays, everyone!!**

**Soooo, I've just watched OVA Ep4--raw, mind you, so I understood not more than like ten words. Ah, as a lover of all Kratos/Lloyd fluffs... I was soooo disappointed they nixed the Hima moment. sigh. sigh. But the Yuan/Kratos battle was awesome, that being the coolest part of the whole episode, seriously. Now come on folks, doesn't Sheena look waaayy older than Lloyd in the OVA? And man, everyone is so serious and angry looking! Oh well it makes them look that much cooler! I can't wait for the second installment of OVA's!**

**This chapter kinda wrote itself out, too. Maybe I need to go back to the drawing board and see where I'm going with this, hmmmmmm.**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia, got it? Now, read!**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 16: Where There is a Will, There is a Way

Raine looked hard at the boy standing several feet away. He didn't seem to be dirty from living on the run. His light blonde hair looked well-brushed, and his clothes looked white as snow. Even though he didn't seem to be starving, he had a decidedly hollow, hungry look that made Raine wary.

"This human man killed your sister?" Raine asked suspiciously. "Why did he do that?"

"So you have never seen this person? How long have you lived here?" The boy's eyes narrowed on the two Sages in front of him.

"We've been here for years and I'm sorry we have never seen anyone like that in the village." Raine replied firmly.

"Hey..." Genis stepped forward uncertainly. "You're a half-elf right? Do you live around here as well?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you need any help? I mean, we've never met any half-elf before that wasn't Desian... so, I mean, we do live in a human village but if you say you're an elf, they don't mind too much... we'll help you out!" Genis cried nervously. This boy lost his sister, he had to help him. He noticed that the boy seemed to be shaking, somewhat.

"Everyone hates us. Humans hate us, why even pretend??" The boy shouted.

"Yes, most humans do hate half-elves but I don't believe that all humans hate us." Raine said quietly.

"Humans are all the same. If you refuse to believe it, you will die. Just as my sister did. She believed in humans and look what happened. A human killed her." Genis noticed that the boy seemed to be shaking harder.

Raine pondered his words for a second. "What did the man who killed your sister look like again?"

The boy took a step back. "What does it matter, he killed her. You must like humans too. You!" he pointed at Genis. "You're just going to be alone one day, just like me. If you let your sister continue to like humans so much, she's going to die by their hands."

Genis felt a lump form in his throat and he tried to swallow it. The boy's words were creeping him out. The thought of Raine dying made him shiver. "Well we... we don't love humans, honestly... but not _all_ them seem to be evil... I mean--"

"What is your name? Is there any way we can help you?" Raine pressed on. She felt split between wanting to help this lost boy... and getting as far away from him as possible. More importantly, she had a serious hunch that they needed to avoid mentioning the Irving family at all.

Genis stepped away from Raine towards the boy, swallowing hard. "Look, you don't have to be alone! You lost your sister and that must've been terrible... but we can help you! We're all half-elves! We can be friends and help each other out!"

The boy didn't reply, and Raine noticed that he was now shaking violently.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" The boy screamed and was holding his head tightly. "No, this can't be happening... go... go away, go away you weak, little twerp... go..."

Genis looked worriedly at Raine, who looked just as confused. The boy in front of them seemed to be having something of a seizure and collapsed to the ground.

"What should we do?" Genis asked.

"What do you think, Genis!" Raine replied as she ran towards the fallen boy. "Let's bring him back to our house. No matter what, we can't just leave him here to be discovered."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

They laid the unconscious boy in Genis' bed. Genis sat by his side looking at him anxiously. Raine said he was possibly insane, but he really touched a nerve with Genis. This boy had an older sister too... and she died. If Raine was killed by a human... Genis shook his head.

The door opened and Raine stepped in. "Has he awoken?"

"No, not at all."

Raine put a bundle of herbs on the kitchen counter and took out a pot.

Genis watched Raine make the revitalizing potion she was going to give to the boy. Raine was no good at cooking, but whatever skill she lacked there was more than made up for in her abilities to stew up some medicine.

"Raine, what'll the villagers say when they find out...?"

"We shall deal with problems as they come, Genis, let's not worry about that yet. If anything, we'll just say he's an elven cousin or something."

The potion was long ready and cooled before Genis heard a groan from the boy next to him.

"Oh! You're awake!"

Raine rushed over with a cup of the potion.

"Who... who are you? Are you half-elves? Where am I?"

Genis and Raine stood and stared at him.

"Um, we met you outside in front of Iselia... and then you went into some kind of seizure so we took you back to our house." Genis explained quickly.

The boy kept looking at him nonplussed.

"Um, what is your name?" Genis asked. He noticed the boy's eyes were a much deeper blue than they were before.

"My name? My name is Mithos."

"Oh! Like Mithos the hero! Wow, not many people are named after the hero!"

"The hero? Who're you talking about?"

Raine looked at him funny. "You don't know about Mithos the hero? The one who ended the Ancient War in the Holy Ground of Kharlan?"

The boy named Mithos stared at Raine. Then he started to laugh. "What year is this?"

Genis looked at Raine. "It's um, the year 4655."

"Really..." Mithos looked away and stared at the wall in front of him.

"Why... why did you laugh?"

"What was I doing before I had a seizure?" Mithos asked instead, taking a sip of the herbal potion.

Raine squeezed Genis' shoulder and replied. "You wanted to find someone in purple who had red hair."

"...Kratos?" Mithos asked, rubbing his head.

Raine and Genis jumped involuntarily. "Y-you know Kratos?"

"Do you know Kratos?"

"You told us you were searching for him because he killed your sister." Raine said slowly.

Mithos looked confused. "My sister? Kratos kill Martel? What are you talking about? Wait, who are _you _people?"

"Oh... right...uh, my name is Genis Sage, and this is my sister Raine. We're living in the village of Iselia pretending to be full-blood elves," Genis said quickly. "Hey, Martel's the name of your sister? I thought no one could name their kids Martel after the goddess..."

"What world is this? You have a goddess named Mar--" Suddenly, the boy's eyes went wide and he suddenly dropped the cup he was holding, his face ashen.

"It's the year 4655, you say?"

"Y-yeah."

Raine crossed her arms as she looked at this enigmatic boy. She also noticed that the boy's eyes were a much darker blue than before. His demeanor had completely changed from somewhat sinister to a more innocent friendliness. Either the boy was possessed, or he was harboring a severe split personality disorder.

"Did you say you know Kratos?" Mithos asked, a hopeful look on his face. "Do you know where he is?"

Genis looked at Raine. Raine answered. "We are wondering where he is as well, so we can't help you there."

Mithos hopped out of bed and picked up the cup he dropped. "I'm sorry, I'll get something to wipe this..."

"Wait, you don't have to--" Genis called after him, but he had already gone to get some towels.

Mithos was seriously disturbed as he wiped the spill. He wasn't sure what to think or what to say. Last he remembered, the year was 324...

Finally he straightened up and faced the two completely confused fellow half-elves. He had one more desperate question to asked.

"If you know of Kratos... do you also know of someone named Yuan?"

Mithos received a shocked look from the both of them. Finally Genis said, "He's missing, too... like Kratos..."

"I see... Alright, I know this will sound like a strange thing to ask of you, but could you give me a history lesson from after the... hero Mithos signed the peace treaty?"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"That little bastard!!"

Yuan kicked the vending machine outside Kratos' personal quarters as they made their way in. Kratos walked by the dented machine without any reaction.

"It's been months! Does the little king really think he can cage us up here in Welgaia forever??"

"I haven't seen Yggdrasil these past few days. From what I could find out it seems he's doing an 'inspection' in Sylvarant." Kratos punched the wall in frustration as he walked by. "If only I had told Lloyd evacuate himself and Anna from that area!"

"We barely had time before Pronyma and Yggdrasil appeared, I've told you that tons of times. So, now that Mithos isn't here, we need to scout this place for a way out!"

Kratos sighed and slumped in a plushy chair in front of his desk.

"This is ridiculous. We're ranked right under him and we can't access his stupid _castle_where he keeps the library. I swear the spell he put on the transporters to the worlds must be from that book of barriers and force fields we found ages ago. If only--"

"Yes, Yuan, we've been through this a million times." Yuan plopped himself on Kratos' bed, sinking into the dark gray comforter.

"Hey! I haven't thought of this! How about the sewage system??"

"Sewage system? Come on, Yuan, when was the last time you used the restroom here? No one _eats_ here, so why would we need a sewage system? You know water doesn't even exist in this place."

"Dammit. And the blueprints to this place are in his personal _castle_ as well, of course."

Kratos leaned back. "You would think we should know more about the layout of Welgaia. I'm quite adamant that we must be overlooking someplace."

"We never needed to escape from here did we??"

An hour later, they were back on their feet wandering around the city of angels again. When they passed by the special items depot, Kratos suddenly stopped.

"We might as well get our Aionis now."

"Then we need to figure out a way out pretty soon afterwards." Yuan replied quietly as they walked in the building. "But yeah, why not."

"We need a stone of Aionis for the new study of the Chosen in Sylvarant." Yuan lazily told the guard.

"Yes, Lord Yuan, sir."

"A _stone??"_Kratos whispered sharply as the angel left.

"It's heavy stuff, Kratos, we're here already, we're getting as much as we can." Yuan whispered back.

The angel returned with a small boulder that fit comfortably between his hands. "Sir, this is the largest single brick of Aionis, measuring at eleven pounds."

"That will do, good work." Kratos took the large rock and stuffed it in magical bottomless pouch.

It wasn't often that Kratos was glad that the other inhabitants of Welgaia existed rather soullessly. They mostly minded their own business and gossiped in their free time about things they had no opinions about. But recently, the gossip mill had run rather dry since the connection between Welgaia and the worlds had been barricaded.

After another fruitless round around the spotless jail cells, and listening in on a pair of angels talking about a new feud between Rodyle and Magnius, they went to the room of refreshments to snack on some gels.

"Nothing. Why did we go to the jail cells anyway, I'm sure the architect would have been smart enough not to put an escape route for them." Yuan said, sighing as he popped an apple gel in his mouth.

Kratos opened his box of lemon gels (because he loves lemons) and took one out. "Leave no stone unturned, Yuan."

"Hey, I got cheated out of my box of apple gels! There's only five in here! The box says six! We need some quality control around here..." Yuan went back to the machine and kicked it.

"Excuse me, sirs, coming through." An angel peon came up behind Yuan carrying a large cardboard box.

Yuan moved aside, letting the angel restock the machine. Kratos looked at him thoughtfully.

"Is there any quality control here? I just took out a box of apple gels that only had five instead of six." Yuan said.

"I am very sorry, Lord Yuan, I am only in charge of the final stage of inventory, and stocking the machines. The angel in charge of ordering and quality control is down on Level 234."

"Level 234?" Kratos asked. "Where is that?"

"Level 234 of the supply route in the Tower of Salvation, sir."

"So you don't take the transporters to bring this stuff in?" Yuan asked curiously.

"No, supplies always come through the supply chain, from the loading dock at the base of the Tower of Salvation, which is currently in Tethe'alla."

"How many levels are there?"

"There are 3580 levels from the top inventory room to the loading dock, sir."

Kratos nearly dropped his box of lemon gels. "Really, how long does it take to bring this box up here?"

"We have an excellent relay system of angels on every floor. At our quickest, it takes no more than a month from unloading to stocking the machines."

"A month... I see..." Kratos nodded absentmindedly, popping another lemon gel in his mouth.

Yuan leaned against the wall, eating his final apple gel and pondering the peon in front of him. "What's the quickest way to get to Level 234? I want a talk with the one in charge."

"The only route is through the warp pads on each level, sir. It should take you about three weeks to reach him. I can ring for someone to call him up here, Lord Yuan."

"I have never had the pleasure of touring this excellent relay of supplies. We will take our leave and make our way down. Where is the warp pad to the supply rooms?"

They followed the angel peon to a small warp hole in the back of the room.

"This leads to the supply room. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, go back to your business." Kratos replied.

"Yes, sir."

With a meaningful look at Kratos, Yuan stepped in first.

"Well, isn't this a security flaw." Yuan whispered to Kratos as they walked around the storage facility.

"A flaw if you don't mind going up or down 3580 levels. Good thing we don't need to eat or sleep."

They came across another similar warp pad, and took it down.

They found themselves floating. Taking out their wings they navigated their way around floor by floor. They waved to the angels stationed on each floor and Yuan exuberantly praised their work ethic.

"Is this really the supply chain? That's a lot of trouble just to get some gels up there." Kratos said as he saw another angel peon fly by with a box.

"At least they don't care, so they do it with no complaints. One of the benefits of having no emotions, I guess. Oh look, it's a new shipment of Grade S Crystals. I guess we're going to have a new army of peons soon."

After many, many days of going down floor by floor trying to figure out the maze-like layout, they finally reached a room with gravity... and drones and monsters.

"Wait," Kratos said as Yuan readied his double-ended sword. "They shouldn't attack us if they haven't received any orders yet. Right, they're ignoring us, let's just keep going."

They walked on undisturbed and silently, making their way through the ill-designed layout of each level. Yuan had long stopped praising the peons on every floor.

"Was there some reason they couldn't just install the excellent warp pads we had up in Welgaia to go down to the worlds?" Kratos asked in frustration.

"This is level what, 1003. Come on, we're two-thirds the way through and Gnome is congratulating us by giving us gravity!"

FINALLY, after many more days where they started getting sick of each other (and Yuan felt like wringing the quality control angel's neck on Level 234, but then was too tired to go find him), they made it to the loading docks.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Yuan cried, running out of the loading dock towards a patch of grass in the sunlight and kissing the ground.

Kratos looked around at the several angels minding their own business with boxes of various supplies. He found the overseer of the ground level and brought him aside.

"You are to tell all the supply workers that none of you have seen us. We are on a top secret mission, understood? If Lord Yggdrasil asks, he is only testing you."

"Understood, Lord Kratos. I will relay this immediately."

"Good."

Kratos dragged Yuan away from his patch of grass and brought out his wings. Yuan finally straightened up and brought out his own. Cheerfully, they launched into the sky towards Yuan's Flanoir base.

However, before they were an hour out, they ran across something they really weren't sure they wanted to see.

"LLOYD?!??!"

Three Rheiards braked to a stop in front of them.

"SHEENA, ZELOS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT OF BASE??" Yuan screamed.

Zelos scratched his head, abashed and smiling.

"His fault, Lord Yuan!" Sheen immediately screamed, pointing at Zelos in front of her.

"Oh.. dad..." Lloyd said, sweat building up on his face. Suddenly he shook his head wildly, his eyes shining. "DAD! WHERE WERE YOU?? I'VE BEEN SEARCHING EVERYWHERE!!"

"Sorry I couldn't come back sooner, I was... trapped for the past few months." Kratos replied, giving Lloyd a hug. "Now, Lloyd, explain yourself."

* * *

**I surprised myself when I finished this chapter! What do you think?? Review, folks! **

**Maybe I'll have a Flanoir/Christmas-y chapter up next, hmm! That is... if there's enough reviews to make me super happy! **

** By the way, I thank everyone who's so faithfully reviewed! For those I couldn't reply to, I'm still just as grateful! **

**Now have a peppermint hot cocoa and review! Woohoo! **


	17. Chapter 17: In the Everwinter City

**Here it is! My wintry fic for the holidays! I hope everyone got plenty of presents and lots of food in their bellies, and now plenty of time to read! **

**Now, just to save some people some confusion, I'm going to clarify a couple things here. **

**1) I am not following the game's story! I have taken most of the characters and kept most of their backgrounds and personalities, but their fates in my story are gonna be different and most hopefully happier!**

**2) I'm am not a romantic writer by all stretches and kissies and stuff make me squeamish when I write it...! So, usually the furthest any couple will go will be like best friends and hugs and whatever else I feel like throwing in there. The only for sure coupling I have going is of course Anna/Kratos, and then Sheena/Zelos. And for Sheena and Zelos, they are more like best friends/sibling-like right now anyway. For Yuan and Raine, they will probably become great friends for most of the story with lots of room for imagination. Martel's souls is still around, by the way! Sorry if I disappointed some of you, but I think it's pretty fair. Oh right, Lloyd? Currently he's either going to be a happy bachelor, or I'm going to make Colette a little more intelligent and likable (can't say I was a big fan of her in the game...).**

**Whew! Okay, you guys are of course, always free to tell me what you think or give me any suggestions!**

**Do I own Tales of Symphonia? I wish! Now enjoy! **

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 17: In the Everwinter City

"Are you warm enough, Lloyd?"

Lloyd shifted the scarf he had around his neck. "Yeah, this scarf is a bit itchy but it's warm. Is it always this cold here?"

"This city is near the home of Celsius, the spirit of Ice. So all the people who live here have never seen a day without snow."

"Wow, really? OH WOW, are those statues made out of ice?? That's so cool!" Lloyd cried as he ran up to the giant ice carvings.

Kratos smiled, watching Lloyd's wide-eyed amazement at his surroundings. But then when Lloyd tried to lick the ice statues, Kratos had to pry him away to save his tongue.

"Dad?"

Kratos looked over at Lloyd as they made their way up to the famous Flanoir balcony.

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you tell me about Tethe'alla before?"

"What would you have done if I did tell you about it?"

"I dunno, but I mean... I dunno..."

"You discovered it on your own. Not quite how I had in mind, but if I had just given you a dry explanation, it would have been hard to believe, correct? Especially since the history taught in school is rather different."

"So, tell me the real history!"

"I will in time. So tell me how you ended up in Tethe'alla."

"Well... I was lucky that Sheena and Zelos had snuck into the Triet base again. I guess they were bolder since Uncle Yuan hadn't been around. Zelos wanted to show me how much cooler _their_ world was, and so that's how I've been in Tethe'alla. But Uncle Botta had said something about how you might be somewhere only the Tower of Salvation can reach, and Zelos said they had a tower while we didn't...

"Zelos took me to Altamira last week, and we were going to see the Tower of Salvation this time when we saw you. Well, I didn't want to tell you that when they were still with us..."

"And now they are getting the flogging of their lives at the inn. " Kratos said with wry smile.

"I feel kinda bad." Lloyd scratched his head.

"There is nothing to feel bad about, Lloyd. Sheena and Zelos look to Yuan almost like an uncle in their own way. Yuan cares about them very much as well. I'm sure they will be happily drinking Flanoir's famous hot cocoa together when we get back."

Lloyd looked over the Flanoir balcony at the shining lights of the city below him. "It's so pretty!"

"Yes it is, this is a famous tourist spot."

"I wish mom could see this..."

"You just left your mom at the base, Lloyd?" Kratos said, shaking his head.

"Mom knows! I've told her!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, kinda." Lloyd said. "So dad where were you?"

Kratos leaned his arms on the balcony railing, looking at the lights. "Yuan and I were in a secret place called Welgaia, where the group I work for is stationed. However, the leader had been getting suspicious after being alerted about my going to Iselia rather often. Thus, he had blocked the main way out. We were lucky we found a little known supply route to escape from."

"But dad, if the leader finds out..."

"I'm afraid we won't be able to stay in Iselia for much longer, Lloyd. If need be, we will have to stay at Triet Base for the time being. Especially for your mother."

"Hey dad, Genis told me a long time ago that there used to be a legendary book on healing that Raine thinks might help mom. But they didn't want to say much about it since they said the book was lost thousands of years ago, and they don't really know if it even has what mom needs..."

Kratos looked surprised. "What book was it called?"

"I um, don't remember."

"I will ask her when we go back."

"So we have to leave Iselia soon? How about Dirk? What about Genis and Raine teacher?"

"Dirk should be fine. As far as Genis and Raine, they should be fine in the village. Safer maybe, if we are gone."

"Maybe they'll want to come with us!"

"I'm sure they would rather lead a less dangerous existence. But we will let them know before we leave, of course."

Lloyd leaned his arms on the balcony, looking at the falling snow sadly.

"I told Colette I'd protect her when she started the Regeneration journey..."

"You did?" Kratos smiled wistfully. "Well, perhaps you'll find other ways to help her, Lloyd. And actually save her life in the end..."

"Huh? I know it's dangerous and no one's made it since Spiritua..."

"Did Zelos or Sheena ever tell you about why their world is so much more advanced?"

"No... I just figured it was just a different world."

"Really? Then why would they have a Tower of Salvation?"

Lloyd shifted uncomfortably. He was starting to feel a bit dumb about not giving that much thought. "I don't know..."

"Their world is somewhat the opposite of Sylvarant. Sylvarant has been suffering mana depravation while they have been enjoying an abundance of mana for a long time. The last time they suffered from mana depravation was when Spiritua succeeded in her journey."

"What? So... if Colette succeeds..."

"Yes, then Zelos and Sheena's world will start to decline and the human ranches will start to appear."

"That's horrible!"

Kratos put his hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "This is what Uncle Yuan and I strive to change. These two worlds used to be one, Lloyd. Most of the history you have been taught at school was made up by the leader Uncle Yuan and I had been working for."

Lloyd stared wide-eyed at his father. "Why... why didn't you tell me this before?"

"How would you have acted at school when you were young, Lloyd? If you told Raine teacher that she was wrong? Or who knows?"

Lloyd was about to retort that he wouldn't, but then he wasn't sure. "Why are there two worlds now?"

Kratos smiled as he took Lloyd by his shoulders. "It's what happens when someone unstable gains too much power. What's important now is that we must restore the world back to what it was. And we must hurry."

Lloyd wasn't sure what to think. Strangely he wasn't quite as surprised as he thought. But maybe it was because his dad's bedtime stories always did hint at the truth...and it helped that he never really listened in class. He looked back at his dad.

"Can you tell me more about Sheena and Zelos? They just told me they were training at the Flanoir base. Why are they so special? Do they live there?"

"Have you asked them?"

"Yeah, but I was just wondering what you knew about them."

"Sheena and Zelos train at the Flanoir base most of the year when they're not at the experimental center in the capital city of Meltokio. Sheena is a very special girl who has the ability to summon spirits. That will become essential in bringing the world back to its original form. Zelos is the Chosen of this world, who has a lot of power and influence. The experimental center sent him to the Flanoir base for special training in the magical arts."

"Zelos can use magic??"

"The experimental center was successful in cultivating magical properties in Zelos. But like myself, he does not have the full command of magic that elves and half-elves are capable of."

Lloyd's eyes went wide. "Oh... oh, that's why..."

"Why what?"

Lloyd shook his head, he didn't feel like talking about himself yet. "So Uncle Yuan's been taking care of them the whole time?"

"They go to the Flanoir base frequently, but they have their own homes as well."

"Sheena and Zelos were just as surprised as I was when they saw Uncle Yuan's wings. So why do you two have wings?"

Kratos stared at the cityscape below and sighed. Then he turned towards Lloyd and brought out his hand that had the Cruxis Crystal. "Do you remember when I showed you this, Lloyd? This is what gives us wings as well. Uncle Yuan has one too. And so does your mother. However, I'm not sure if your mother has any wings."

"So are we angels, dad?"

"We? Show me your wings, Lloyd."

"Ah..."

"Alright, let's leave the town limits, first."

As they made their way out, Kratos suddenly thought of something. "What day is today?"

"Uh.. Tuesday."

"Which means...?"

"This is research, dad! I'm getting educated!"

Kratos chuckled. "I'll let your mom deal with you when you get back. I'm surprised you don't want to go to school to see Genis at least, though."

"Genis has a new friend..."

"A new friend? Who?"

"He's a half-elf too that they found outside Iselia. He lost most of his memory, so they're helping him out."

"What's his name?" Kratos asked, looking extremely worried.

"He said his name was Mithos."

Kratos stopped, staring at Lloyd with wide eyes.

"What's... wrong, dad?"

"Did he say anything or do anything to you or your mother?" Kratos asked, his face draining of color.

"No... he was pretty friendly, I guess. Oh yeah, he asked about you and Uncle Yuan. He won't tell us why he knows you, but he seemed kind of desperate to find you."

"Desperate, hmm... Did he say why?"

"He really wants to find you because he says you or Uncle Yuan can help him recover his memory."

Now Kratos was feeling rather confused. "Recover his memory?"

"Yeah, he has no idea how he got there. Genis told me he was kind of creepy when they first found him. Me and mom were at Triet Base at the time. Genis said he was all asking for 'a man in purple with red hair who killed his sister'. Genis and Raine teacher were all suspicious and didn't tell him. But then he went into some kind of spasm and blacked out. After we woke up, he was all nice and stuff. But he had no idea what was going on. Raine teacher says maybe he was possessed by something earlier..."

"Killed his sister? Hmm..."

Kratos looked up at the darkening sky, lost in thought for a few minutes.

Then he was hit in the back of the head with a snowball, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Are you playing dirty, Lloyd?" Kratos laughed and quickly packed a snowball while dodging another one.

"You weren't paying attention!" Lloyd yelled, and was promptly hit in the face.

After plenty more rounds of snowball warfare, they finally collapsed in the snow, laughing.

"Look, dad! Snow angel!" Lloyd cried, as he waved his arms and legs in the snow.

"How did you know to do that?"

"I dunno, I think we were learning about snow in class and what people do in the snow. I never thought I'd be able to see snow!"

"Which, reminds me, Lloyd," Kratos sat up, shaking snow out of his hair and shoulders. "I want to see your wings."

"Be prepared!" Lloyd said, grinning broadly. "They look way cool!"

Lloyd first chanted the quick spell for mana concealment and then concentrated all the mana to his back and out spurted huge, magnificent wings of the colors of the dusk sky.

"And who taught you to cover up your mana signature when you did that?"

"Raine teacher!"

Thus Lloyd had to explain the events that happened when he got his set of wings.

"Lloyd, you waste too much mana trying to show off your wings. You need to learn to conserve mana and only make them as big as you need them to be."

"What, you mean my wings aren't just bigger and better than yours?"

"Watch your arrogance, Lloyd." Kratos said sharply. "If I wanted to use up a large amount of energy, I could make some pretty big wings as well. But it is unnecessary and unwise."

Lloyd frowned and put away his wings.

Kratos laughed when he saw Lloyd's deep scowl. He went over and put a hand on his shoulder. "It takes a lot of energy to fly. When you use up half your mana making fancy wings, you'll only get half as far. Think in practical terms. Now, let's practice. You need to concentrate on only using about a fifth of the power you used for those wings."

Lloyd sighed heavily and closed his eyes, trying to feel out what would be about a fifth of what he used. Granted he did feel pretty tired after forming his big, beautiful wings. But he really didn't like the fairy-ish wings his dad and Yuan had. Maybe he can still form better looking wings but smaller...

Kratos shook his head, laughing when he saw Lloyd's new set of wings. "I never knew you cared so much for looks, Lloyd. Well, if you really want to spend the bit of extra mana to make them look like bird wings, I'm sure it doesn't really hurt."

"Hey dad! Look what else I can do!" Lloyd floated up in the air and starting chanting a spell, a magic circle forming below him.

"Eruption!" Lloyd shouted and the ground erupted in waves of lava, melting a large area of snow down to barren dirt.

"Good job, Lloyd, what else have you suddenly learned while I've been gone??"

"Well, other than the mana concealment spell Raine taught me, which took a loooong time, I was spending a lot of time trying to learn Eruption after I got Fireball. But I still can't get Explosion."

"Besides the fact that Explosion is highly advanced magic and you probably don't have the mana for it... I must assume you also have the mana ceiling I have. Since we are not naturally imbued with elven blood, we can only learn up to the mid levels of magic."

"That's unfair!"

"Honestly, Lloyd, that should be the last thing for you to say. You must already be the most gifted human being in both worlds. You don't even have a Cruxis Crystal to worry about."

"Still! Now I can't have my competition with Genis when he learns Indignation!"

"Indignation? Genis is trying to learn that? How many months have I been away??"

"Well, I tried really hard to learn Eruption, it still takes it out of me. Genis tries to learn all the basic spells of every element first, so he hasn't even started on the midrange stuff. But he swears lightning is more powerful than fire."

Kratos shook his head again, smiling. "Sorry, Lloyd. Indignation is much more powerful than Explosion. Even if you two finally get to pit them against one another, I think you would lose fairly quickly."

"Man..."

"Now we need to hurry back to Flanoir, I need to talk with Yuan about these new developments."

Kratos took out his wings and both he and Lloyd flew back together towards the everwinter city of Flanoir.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

When they got back to the inn, everyone was already nursing their third mug of hot cocoa in the cozy cafe at the front.

"Took you long enough," Yuan said and called out for two more hot cocoas.

Zelos rubbed his tummy happily. "Wait til you try this Lloyd, you can't get enough of this stuff, it's the best non-alcoholic drink ever!"

"Non-alcoholic?"

Zelos sat straight up. "You don't know what alcohol is??"

Sheena smacked him hard on the shoulder. "The boy's like fourteen or something, and his dad's sitting right across from you, you idiot!"

"Lloyd, it's like the red wine we let you try last year on your mom's birthday," Kratos said, taking his hot cocoa from the server.

"Oh... that was... hmm..." Lloyd made a slight face.

Zelos looked at Lloyd intently. "I'm sure pops just didn't get you the good stuff, wait til you try some quality vintage straight from the king's cellar! I need to take you out to Altamira, Lloyd, you and i!"

"He's fourteen! He can't even get into the bars at Altamira, you dork!" Sheena said exasperatedly. "Lloyd, don't listen to him, he's a solid block of trouble."

"And she's absolutely right," Yuan said laughing. "Keep in mind, Lloyd, too much alcohol will make you do stupid stuff that you'll probably regret... and most probably get a beating from dad."

"Yeah... I'm not sure I really like alcohol anyway then if it's like that wine..." Lloyd said, sipping his hot cocoa.

Kratos smiled wryly, not saying anything. Finally he got up and motioned to Yuan. "I've got something I need to talk to Yuan about. And Lloyd, between Sheena and Zelos, listen to Sheena."

"Whaaaaaaat," Zelos cried looking extremely hurt. Sheena just smiled smugly and crossed her arms.

At another table, Kratos relayed whatever he heard from Lloyd about Mithos.

Yuan listened intently. "I think the Mithos we like must be back...after about four thousand years. And I had given him up as a lost cause... hm, I wonder what triggered the change. But I assure you that Lord Yggdrasil is still there somewhere and something will make him flip back at some point. Be careful."

"Do you think the Yggdrasil side can access Mithos' memories? Because there is a high probability that the Sages have told Mithos everything Yggdrasil wanted to know... whatever connections I had in Iselia, or even the fact that they know me. It was very fortunate that Lloyd and Anna were gone when Yggdrasil came to scout the area."

"I don't think the two halves can access each other's memory actually. The fact that this Mithos doesn't seem to know what he's been doing, perhaps means he can't access Yggdrasil's memories. I'm sure it would be the same visa versa. I do remember Yggdrasil being at something of a loss after he lost control to Mithos a couple times at the beginning."

Kratos sighed heavily. "If Mithos really is back..."

"I know, Kratos, I want to see him too. But if Yggdrasil suddenly takes over while we're there, we'll have more than a serious problem at our hands."

"I need to go back to Iselia and try to evacuate Anna out, regardless. It's risky, but we should still afford him a short visit if he really is Mithos. Not to mention if this isn't Yggdrasil, then he wouldn't know that we escaped Welgaia anyway."

"Should you even go back? Didn't Lloyd say he left Anna at the base? It just seems too dangerous to even go near Mithos. At least we know where he is right now, so we can avoid a confrontation."

Kratos stared at his mug of hot cocoa, not saying anything.

Yuan sat back in his seat. "I need to get Sheena started with summoning the spirits, especially now that our cover will be blown. She's been doing well in the training sessions, I don't doubt she'll be able to make pacts now. We really need to hurry."

"Right, however, I was going tie up some loose ends in Iselia quickly..."

"Alright, Kratos, I will go back to Iselia, get whatever possessions you guys need, let Dirk know the current events, have a chat with the Sages, and get a good look at Mithos. I'd rather _you_ not go back, since he was searching for you earlier. I'll let you know what I find out."

"Yes... yes, I guess you are right. I wonder if Mithos is still the same boy we remember, Yuan..."

"If he's still a loudmouth, rebellious kid who threw Explosions at me whenever I went to talk with Martel, then yes, I'll let you know. Or of course, if he's that funny, innocent looking kid he turns into when he's usually around you or Martel... I'll let you know, too."

Kratos laughed, shaking his head slightly. "He really was a good kid. At least there is a chance he's still around."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Yuan alighted in a large tree across from the little Iselian school house. School should be out soon, and the more advanced mana concealment spell he casted on himself should last for another hour or so. He had also put on something of a cap to conceal his blue-green hair from the humans.

Children started coming out of the schoolhouse, and Yuan looked intently at the door, not sure how eager he was to see if Mithos was going to be a part of the group. Finally after a few minutes after the last human child left the school house, Raine and Genis walked out. With Mithos nowhere to be seen.

Very quietly, he jumped down from the tree (making sure no humans were looking, of course), and tapped the shoulders of the two Sages. He instantly put his finger to his lips when they turned around in shock, and motioned them out of the village.

"Yuan!!! We've missed you, where have you been???" Genis cried happily, giving Yuan a hug. "You won't believe what I've learned these past--"

Yuan smiled, but quickly motioned for silence. "I'm sorry, Genis, I don't have long here, but I need to ask you guys a very important question. Do you have a guest staying at your house?"

Genis and Raine looked at each other. Finally Raine replied that they did.

"What does he look like?"

Genis looked at him quizzically, but told him about Mithos, his looks, and how they've been great friends.

Raine noticed that Yuan looked extremely worried. "What's wrong?"

Yuan looked up. "Mithos was a friend of mine and Kratos' many many years ago... But for the past... many years, he had been taken over by another very dangerous personality."

"Oh I think we saw that one!" Genis cried. "He was all creepy when we first saw him. And his eyes were a lighter blue, too!"

"His eyes?"

"Yes, I noticed that too." Raine continued. "When we first met him, his eyes were a light, washed out blue. But now it's a dark, deep blue color."

Yuan nodded slightly and said quickly, "Hmm, I guess I had forgotten, but I suppose you're right... I want you two to be careful. I'm going to call the other personality Yiggy, just to separate the two. But he is extremely powerful, and never, never, never tell him anything about me, Kratos, Lloyd, or Anna, or that you know us at all... He also has an older, adult form that he--"

"Yuan!"

Yuan looked up, and behind the Sages he saw the deep-blue eyes of a boy he thought he'd never see again.

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**REVIEW! Yay, if you couldn't tell I had something of a hot cocoa obsession these past few days... in fact I'm going to have another mug! And plenty of hot cocoa or egg nog or whatever you wish, for those who review! **


	18. Chapter 18: The Boy Mithos

Okay! Took a while to get this one written... I kept like writing and re-writing and stuff, I hope it's still coherent! Hope everyone had a happy new year and didn't get sick (like I am now)!! You know, I actually had a dream about running around as Kratos in some floating place... and thinking, 'hey, this is so cool! they got rid of Latheon Gorge in this remake and put something different here instead! I wonder if someone's written a faq about this yet??' I was actually quite sad when I woke up and realized there was no remake. P

I don't own Tales of Symphonia, so don't sue, cause I have no money anyway!

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 18: The Boy Mithos

"Mithos!" Yuan exclaimed, staring at the boy in front of him in disbelief.

The last time Yuan had seen Mithos in his original boy form had to be about four thousand years ago. After Lord Yig (as Yuan now privately dubbed the other personality) had successfully beaten down his "pathetic" half, he hated the idea of being stuck physically at the age of fourteen and spent years trying to find a way to look older. Since then, Yuan had never seen the fourteen year old boy he remembered from so long ago.

Suddenly the boy ran towards him (the Sages parted quickly to let him through), and Yuan was suddenly knocked breathless with a tight hug.

The Sages watched with great interest at the interaction between the two. Yuan looked like he was about to cry.

"Mithos, it's you, right? Really you?"

Mithos let him go and looked up, looking happy but worried. "I-I think so... I'm so glad you're here! Yuan, tell me what's going on..."

Yuan looked at the Sages with something of a meaningful look. Raine nodded and took Genis by the arm. "Please come back to our house later, Yuan."

Yuan nodded, smiling slightly. Then he looked back down at Mithos, his smile widening.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Just flashes of waking up in places I don't know and situations I'm confused about."

"Okay, so what was the last concrete thing you remember?"

Mithos stared at his feet. "When...when Martel was struck by the arrow..."

Yuan froze for a second and watched him uneasily, quickly wondering if he should bolt in case Mithos suddenly turned into Lord Yig from some possible emotional trigger... But instead, he sighed sadly and brought the boy into another hug.

"That's the very last thing you remember?"

"Yes, nothing after that except for the waking up in strange places. I asked Raine for a history lesson since the Kharlan War." Mithos shook his head. "I've... I've been doing horrible things... haven't I, Yuan?"

Yuan looked at the boy sadly. "No, Mithos. _You_ have not done anything horrible. Your alter ego, however... is the complete opposite of you. He must've been created right after your last memory of Martel."

"You know, Raine kind of reminds me of Martel... a little. Especially that she doesn't believe all humans are bad. And Genis reminds me slightly of myself." Mithos suddenly said, looking off in the distance.

"Genis is actually a lot like you. Very, very smart for his age. And maybe he and Raine helped you flip back to yourself. I was actually a bit afraid that they might make you revert to your alter ego."

Mithos frowned. "I know. I feel very uneasy myself, especially listening to the history of the last four thousand years... history I'm sure I must've created and controlled. Those few times I gained consciousness, I had a feeling I must have been doing something terrible, but I... I had no idea that was what I was doing."

"Yes, currently Kratos and I should be trapped in Derris-Kharlan right now, thanks to your other half. If your alter ego suddenly surfaces again, I'll be in big trouble." Yuan smirked.

"Kratos? Where is he? How is he?" Mithos asked, eyes brightening at the sound of his old teacher's name.

"He wanted to come see you really badly, but I convinced him not to come. Lord Yggdrasil, as your alter ego calls himself, was on the search for him recently around here. Which, by the way, is why you _were_ here. I believe Lord Yig was searching for Kratos, but accidently bumped into the Sages instead."

"Lord Yggdrasil, haha..." Mithos chuckled mirthlessly. "So why was I--he searching for Kratos?"

Yuan felt slightly uneasy at whether he should tell him this information. But he was sure that the other half had no access to this half's memories. Taking a deep breath, he continued, looking into Mithos' deep-blue eyes.

"We have been working undercover for Lord Yiggy for the past few decades. But Kratos had been taking one too many chances visiting his secret family here, so Lord Yiggy got suspicious--"

"FAMILY?? WHAT FAMILY??"

"Kratos is a happy father of a not-so-very-bright fourteen year old, and the husband of a currently paraplegic lady named Anna."

Mithos kicked Yuan in the leg. "You gotta have more to say about them than that! That's hardly nice! Man, you're still so rude and annoying even after what, four thousand years??"

"Hey! You hadn't changed much either! Though I have to say whatever of you that did change got encapsulated into Lord Yiggy." Yuan said laughing, and Mithos kicked him again for good measure. "Ow! You're still a brat!"

"Well, what else? Is Anna human? What's the kid's name??"

"Yeah, Anna's human. And Kratos has beat any kind of xenophobic ideas she ever had out of her, so she's really cool. And the kid's name is Lloyd. He's a sweet kid, don't get me wrong."

"Wow, I never thought Kratos would ever find a girl! And he's got a kid, too!"

"It's still a strange sight, hard to get used to."

"I see. So have _you_ got a family now, Yuan??"

Yuan regained his composure. "No."

"No?"

"Look Mithos, for the past four thousand years--minus the last few decades--Kratos and I have been existing as emotionless robots for Lord Yiggy."

"What?"

"The Cruxis Crystal. Yeah, it's obviously been proven now that it does give us what seems like immortality. It's made us into "angels"--

"Angels? Cruxis Crystal?"

Yuan stared at Mithos' blank face.

"Wow, you really have just come back after four thousand years, huh?"

"YUAN! I thought you've realized that by now!"

"Yeah, watch this." Yuan took out his wings briefly and Mithos stared at him wide-eyed in amazement, which made Yuan chuckle. "You know... you can do it too, Mithos."

"I can??"

"Yeah, focus your mana to your back and think wings."

Instantly, Mithos found himself with large, brilliant wings--like a fancier version of Yuan's.

Mithos stared at himself in amazement. "Amazing, those Holy Crystals, they really do make a person rather holy!"

Yuan made a face. "Yeah, holy as far as wings and immortality. Other than that, they were the reason Kratos and I lost all our emotions for those past few thousand years. Not to mention, I think it's the cause of your current personality issues."

Mithos dispersed his wings with a simple thought. "What'd you call the Holy Crystals again?"

"Cruxis Crystals. Cruxis is Lord Yiggy's world police organization. He wants to make a world where everyone becomes emotionless puppets so there would be no more discrimination."

"Really? That's thoughtful... How come you two couldn't stop him??"

Yuan crossed his arms. "Other than the fact that Lord Yiggy has all the powers of the Summon Spirits, and Origin, _and _who knows what else he's learned after locking himself up in his castle of books... Kratos and I were missing the ability to have something of an opinion the last four thousand years, like I said."

"I made a pact with Origin?"

Yuan stared at Mithos for a good few seconds. "You realize now that the worlds are split now right? Sylvarant, Tethe'alla?

"Ah, that's why this land is so weak right now. It was my original idea of reducing the advancement of magi-technology. I guess this world is in decline. Good for him--that other half of me. Seems like he still knew what we planned to do."

"You weren't by any chance harboring ideas of making Kratos into Origin's Seal were you?"

Mithos looked at him in confusion. "No, why?"

"Because that's what you did. I mean that's what your other half did. Pretty smart since that means no one could call on Origin ever again unless they kill off Kratos."

Mithos shook his head, unable to say anything.

"Thankfully, Kratos says he had a miraculous talk with Origin about fifteen years ago so there might be a loophole for him to call out Origin, fix stuff, and live."

Mithos could only shake his head again, looking extremely sad.

"Well, it was also our idea that we were going to germinate the Great Seed at some point, was it not?"

Mithos crossed his arms, looking up at Yuan. "Yeah, and do you remember what the conditions were for that?"

Yuan shifted his weight, resisting an urge to put cover his face in his hand.

"Right... that's right, it was whenever Martel could finally successfully spread her gospel of equality... Well now your alter ego has other things planned out, like an Age of Lifeless Beings, where everyone can have a special ex-sphere and exist emotionlessly and I guess, harmoniously."

"So... why do you have emotions now? If you have emotions now, that means you were able to break out of the Crystal's influence."

"Well, I snapped out of it after seeing someone get tortured, and Kratos snapped out of it when he met his girl, I think. I hope you've, you know, snapped out of yours now as well. My guess was that we had met with some kind of situation that normally would have aroused an extreme reaction, and it was enough to... break us out?"

"Well you haven't lost your emotions again, so maybe it's permanent."

"I'd rather not say anything is permanent. These Crystals affect us in way we really have no way of knowing. Actually, Martel's soul still exists within her Cruxis Crystal. That's what Origin said when we asked him to save her. Soon after, Lord Yig attached her Crystal to the Great Seed to nourish it."

Mithos' eyes went wide as Yuan continued.

"His current plan is to create a person with the closest mana signature to Martel so he can move Martel's soul into... that person. The Great Seed will be used to make that happen. And when the Great Seed's mana is used up, the world goes goodbye."

Night had completely fallen, but Yuan could still the grim look on Mithos' face. He was actually kind of thankful that he was just rendered emotionless for a long time and wasn't taken over by some rabid personality that was doing things on its own. He felt terrible for him. Maybe he was being to hard on Mithos, laying all his other half's atrocities on him as if it were his fault. But then, he still couldn't stop feeling bitter about what has happened.

"Don't feel bad, Mithos, remember,_you_ didn't do this."

"But I did. It may be my alter ego or whatever, but it is still an extension of me, that other half is still me, Yuan! Maybe I actually did want this, deep down inside!"

"Here's my theory. I think the Crystal kind of... shook the original Mithos until it separated into good and bad, or something. I keep getting jumpy when I mention Martel, but you seem sad but alright. Your other half, however, is intent on her revival and is way obsessed beyond brotherly love."

Mithos smiled slightly. "Maybe you're right, Yuan. I'm kind of surprised how calm I am about it as well. I do feel different, I don't know how, exactly, but maybe I did get split in half. And I... I do want Martel back... but..."

Yuan didn't say anything.

Mithos sighed, staring off into the darkening woods. "...I honestly don't think she would be happy to come back in someone else's body."

Yuan crossed his arms, looking at Mithos thoughtfully. "No, I don't think she would be very happy about that either. Interesting to hear you say that."

Mithos looked up at Yuan, sighing. "Is it? I don't know. Maybe it has helped to have met the Sages."

Yuan nodded absentmindedly. "Speaking of which, we should go back and see what they're up to. By the way, neither Kratos nor I have told them that we're more than four thousand years old. Actually I don't think Kratos has even told his son, either. Did you tell them?"

Mithos shook his head as he turned to walk back. "It just doesn't seem right, you know, to tell someone who just said that the year is 4655, that... that the last thing I remembered, the year was 324."

Yuan laughed. "What do the villagers think of you?"

"Raine told them I was a fellow elf cousin or something. I haven't really ventured out of the house... I'm not sure if they bought that excuse or not. Sad to know four thousand years have passed and the discrimination still seems the same."

"Well, your alter ego didn't help by erecting Human Ranches everywhere."

"Human Ranches? Raine talked about them... so I did make them, didn't I??"

"Yeah, Lord Yiggy figured out how to manufacture ex-spheres. So he got a bunch of goons together to grab some humans to harvest ex-spheres on."

"No way..."

"So, there's kind of a reason humans here are even more upset about half-elves. I'm pretty startled at how evil you can be, Mithos."

Mithos turned his head to look at Yuan disapprovingly. "Hey, maybe you've got a dark side you don't know about either! Honestly, I plead total innocence of this! I'm really more horrified than you could possibly be!"

Yuan smiled as he donned his non-descript gray woolen cap. He had taken it off earlier, and was now trying to get most of the strands of his blue hair tucked in there. He smacked Mithos when he sniggered.

"You look like a punk, Yuan!"

SMACK!

"Shut up, at least you have passable human-colored hair! And I refuse to join the I'm-an-elf bandwagon."

"So you'd rather pretend to be human?"

"... no, I am ambiguous."

"Whatever!"

"So what's your immediate plan?"

"I don't know. I rather like it here with Raine and Genis. I want to stay a little longer. I mean... I know I _could_ somehow switch back to my evil half, so I should seclude myself somewhere... but... then again I may not. Secluding myself would lead to serious depression and I will probably revert anyway!"

"Hmm. True, if the Sages can keep you like this, then maybe you might be able to stay this way forever. That would make fixing this world sooooooo much easier."

"Still, I think you and Kratos should stay away from me," Mithos said worriedly. "I still don't trust myself much. Come to think of it, I really should just kill myself. Then we wouldn't have to worry about it at all."

"NO!"

Mithos looked at Yuan's darkened look in surprise.

"How dare you say that!"

Mithos looked at him seriously. "Look at what I've caused, Yuan. I'm not worth the danger I can cause further."

"Listen, if I hear anymore of this martyr talk, I'm going to... I-- Mithos, you'd better banish that thought out of your head. After finding out that the old you exists, that's the last thing we would ever want. Not to mention, there _is_ hardly any more damage Lord Yig can cause any further, anyway, so it'd be a useless waste!"

Mithos smiled sadly. "Thanks, Yuan."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raine turned her head from her book as the door opened, and saw Yuan and Mithos come in.

"You were out for such a long time! The sun's already set, and Genis has finished making dinner already! You're staying for dinner, Yuan...right?"

"Of course." Yuan replied, realizing he didn't have much of a choice anyway given Raine's say-no-and-die look.

"So Mithos, have you gotten most of your memory back?"

"Um... yeah... he helped a lot."

Yuan sat down across from Raine. "By the way, Lloyd, Anna, and Kratos won't be coming back to Iselia."

"What?!" Raine and Genis (from the kitchen) shouted.

"We... Kratos and I had to escape from our workplace... which means people will be searching for us." Yuan looked at Mithos. "And there is a high probability that the bad guys know Kratos has been lurking around Iselia."

Genis ran to the table with a freshly baked quiche, looking horrified. He set the quiche down and stood there staring at Yuan. "No. Way. Lloyd's never coming back??"

"Doesn't mean you guys can't still see each other. Come here, Genis, I have a present for you."

Genis went over to Yuan, still sporting an angry face. "Presents aren't gonna appease me."

Yuan chuckled and took out a wing pack. "Here, just for you. You can visit the base all you want now. That's where the Irving family will be."

"Irving?" Mithos asked, confusedly.

Yuan gave him a look of silence.

Genis held his new wing pack carefully, opening the flap to see what color he got.

"Light blue! I love it!"

"It should be built small enough for you, too."

Genis suddenly realized that Raine was looking much too interested in his new present, and quickly tucked away the wing pack. "T-thanks, Yuan... thanks a lot... Hey, Mithos can come see Lloyd too!"

Yuan sighed, looking at Genis. "Right, about Mithos... I'm afraid that's not such a good idea right now, Genis. Just come yourself, or Raine too of course, whenever you want. Currently, it's not a good idea for Mithos to come."

"Because of Mithos' dual personality you were talking about?" Raine asked, slightly irritated at what seemed to be secrets everywhere.

There was a brief second of silence.

"Right, Raine. Yes, Mithos' other personality currently believes he still has Kratos and me locked up. He also does not know of Lloyd's and Anna's existence or that I run a couple Renegade bases. It would be too much of a gamble to risk Mithos coming and possibly turning into Lord Yiggy in the middle of one of my bases."

"Ah I see!" Raine said, smiling widely. "I was looking at this book on strange illnesses, and I found a chapter on multiple personalities. Usually the switch is caused by a trigger. What was the trigger for you to turn into this current personality?"

Mithos shifted slightly uncomfortably. "Maybe you remind me of my sister and Genis reminds me of myself? I don't know, maybe you said something nice."

"Well, it doesn't matter," Yuan said quickly. "I don't know what will trigger Mithos to possibly flip to Lord Yiggy and I'm not sure I want to sit around and find out. It seems this Mithos is doing fine right now, at least."

Genis grinned largely as he served slices of quiche for everyone. "It's 'cause of us! You should just stay with us forever, Mithos!"

Mithos smiled broadly. "Thanks, Genis. I really am indebted to you and Raine. You are two of the best people I've ever met in my life."

"Just wait til you meet the Irving family one day! Lloyd is the coolest human you'll ever meet!"

Mithos laughed, looking at Yuan, who gave him a knowing smile.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Two Rheairds flew away under the gaze of the crescent moon and over the sands of Triet.

"Are you serious??"

"Yeah, you can't fly past a certain point, 'cause I think Uncle Yuan said Volt's energy wasn't strong enough beyond the Triet base."

"Man, Lloyd, you always say 'Uncle Yuan'?"

"Look, I've always called him that since I can remember!"

Zelos chuckled. "So have you ever_tried_ to fly past that 'certain point'??"

Lloyd frowned. "No, I never have."

"Well then let's see if old Yuan was just pulling your leg so that you wouldn't go shoot off on your own!"

"I don't think he'd lie to me though..."

"It's a fine time to prove his words, bud! Where'd you say was the biggest city in this world??"

"I think Raine teacher said Palmacosta was the biggest city and was somewhere southeast."

"Let's go!"

Minutes after they disappeared, a purple Rheaird flew frantically from the base in the direction of the first two.

* * *

Sooooo, what do you think?? Review, review!! 


	19. Chapter 19: The Great Juvenile Mayhem

**WHAT! Another chapter already??? Yeah, that's right, dishes piled to the max...table cluttered with trash... this chapter totally blazed out of my head and everything practical in life was happily ignored. And whattyaknow, I think this is one of my favorite chaps so far!**

** Enjoy and review! **

** Oh right, I don't own Tales of Symphonia, what a bummer. **

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 19: The Great Juvenile Mayhem

"Have you seen Lloyd?"

Anna was getting more and more worried, the more guards she asked that question to.

"Last I saw him he was with Zelos and Sheena."

"Right, thank you."

That was the most information Anna could get, other than some other guards who said they only saw Lloyd and Zelos together. Maybe they just went outside to look around. Or something. Or flew off to see something and will come back at some point.

Yuan figured they were allowed some growing-up space and just shrugged, saying they'll be back soon enough. Sheena was missing as well, so perhaps she should be able to keep a close watch on the two anyway. Kratos was more silently worried, but was willing to allow another day before he would truly let the feeling of panic set in.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"There is no city on this bit of land we've been flying over for the past half hour or so."

"I think this is the island between Triet and Palmacosta, if I remember correctly from a map I saw once of Sylvarant... But um, don't take my words too seriously since I probably didn't really pay attention to it."

"Man you guys have like no cities in this world, do everyone just live in tiny villages or something? This land's totally barren! Oh right, I think it is just an island, 'cause I see water again."

"Wow, I guess I was right."

"And I'm telling you, old Yuan really was pulling your leg! The Rheairds are still flying fine!"

Lloyd didn't want to admit it but that was true, the Rheairds still seemed to be flying alright. There was a sputter from his Rheaird a few minutes ago, which got him a bit worried. But Zelos wasn't hearing any talk of turning around even though his Rheaird made the same little sputter not soon after.

"Hey Zelos, do you really hang out with rich girls all the time like Sheena said?"

"Hell yeah I do, they're my hunnies!"

"So you really just have parties all the time when you're not at the Flanoir base?"

"For the most part!"

"Sheena seemed really angry about it..."

Zelos chuckled. "She's just jealous 'cause she doesn't get invited to those parties."

"Why not?"

"There are some distinct classes in Tethe'alla, Lloyd. Not like the universal hick status everyone has here. Sheena's not part of the noble class so they'd look down on her."

"So you're noble class?"

"I'm almost as important as the King!"

"Then why do you hang out with Sheena?"

Zelos' grin became rather fixed.

"Well?" Lloyd asked curiously.

"I kinda grew up with Sheena, you know. We both trained at the Flanoir base since we were pretty young. She's a special girl."

"So is she a 'hick' like you say people in Sylvarant are?"

"Uh, I guess you can say that... She's part of a special clan of secret ninjas. No one knows much about them, so they're usually regarded as pretty suspicious. Hell, none of us even know where they live because they keep it such a secret."

"That's so cool!"

"Yeah well, she--uh oh..."

Zelos felt his Rheaird give a large gasp and a sputter.

"Man, I told you we should have turned back earlier! Let's turn back now!" Lloyd shouted, as he felt his Rheaird buck under him as well, forcing him to hold on tighter.

Lloyd quickly did an about face, but Zelos suddenly gave a cry.

"No, no! I see land ahead of us! If we turn back now we might end up crashing in the water! Let's keep going! We can make it!"

Lloyd was forced to turn around again and follow Zelos. He could hear his Rheaird cough like crazy now, and they were losing air very quickly. Soon they were sailing over land, but the speed of the grass passing below Lloyd was so dizzying and frightening that Lloyd shut his eyes in total fear. He heard Zelos utter a loud scream as they neared the ground, which made Lloyd open his eyes again just as the Rheaird bounced off the ground giving him serious whiplash. Another impact with the ground sent Lloyd flying and before he knew it his wings were out.

Frantically, Lloyd flew through the smoke towards the still ongoing scream to his far left and was able to grab Zelos off his Rheaird before it crashed into a tree.

Both of them were standing on the ground staring at the dramatic crash of Zelos' Rheaird, when Zelos turned around to say something to Lloyd. And whatever he was going to say got stuck in his throat.

"Man, good thing you weren't on that-- what?" Lloyd looked at Zelos in confusion.

Zelos pointed behind Lloyd.

Lloyd looked behind him and saw nothing (since his wings turned as he turned). Finally Lloyd realized he had his wings out, but before he was about to say something about _that_, he heard a loud bang in the distance and a female scream. Instantly he flew to the air toward the scream and found Sheena on her way down on her Rheiard. Lloyd quickly grabbed her off and landed next to Zelos. Very quickly, he dispersed his wings. But, it was already too late, both Zelos and Sheena were staring at him like he was an alien. Lloyd scratched his head in nervousness.

"Um..."

"Um, so... why... how do you have wings?"

Lloyd still kept scratching his head.

Finally Sheena took a deep sigh and crossed her arms. "Hey, you saved our lives, you can have your secrets. Now, what the HELL were _you_ trying to do, Zelos! Didn't Yuan already tell you these Rheairds can't fly past about a 500 mile radius from Triet Base??"

Zelos looked at Sheena, a pouty frown on his face. "No, I don't recall ever hearing something like that. If you knew that, why are you crash-landed here with us, huh, miss smartypants?"

"I was following you idiots!"

"Alright, more importantly, let's see, the sky looks a bit light, so it's almost dawn. So where are we? 'Cause I didn't see any city on my way down."

"You were still searching for a city when your Rheaird was going down??" Sheena yelled as Zelos frantically shut his ears with his hands.

"Um..."

"Yes?" Sheena asked encouragingly as Lloyd spoke up.

"Well... I can fly around and see if there's a city near here..."

Both Sheena and Zelos looked at him for another wordless second before Zelos finally spoke up. "Hey yeah, good idea bro, you can get a good view from up there."

But before Lloyd was even about to summon his wings again, they heard a loud commotion in the forest behind them.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Kratos, I really wonder about that Zelos boy. He's nice enough, but he's a bad influence." Anna said angrily as they walked the corridor towards Yuan's office.

"I understand, Anna. However, you should think from Lloyd's point of view as well. He has no one his age to talk with here besides Zelos and Sheena. They should be allowed some time to play together without parental attention."

Anna felt like she was going to have an aneurism from those words, and took a deep breath to steady herself. Dammit if only she wasn't stuck to a wheelchair! "Zelos is nearly twenty years old! I hardly call this 'playing' anymore! And the last incident! Zelos practically set himself up a full wet bar in Lloyd's room!"

Kratos wanted to chuckle, but thought better. "Zelos really isn't that bad, Anna. I think perhaps he is excited at finding a male friend he can bond with. I think he sees Lloyd as a younger brother. And the last incident went down without too much of an issue. We just confiscated most of the drinks and brought them to Yuan's room."

"Zelos is hardly an ideal older brother..." Anna sighed. Okay, she was sounding like her mom now. She had vowed when she was eighteen that she would never be like her mom, and here she's talking just like she did. "I'm sorry, look, I mean I'm just really worried. I just have this awful feeling about Lloyd right --"

"I know, Anna, I'm going to get Yuan and find him, don't worry."

Anna stopped, staring blankly at Kratos' back for a second. "You are?"

Kratos didn't stop walking as he continued. "Anna, I had every intention of going to look for Lloyd."

"Why didn't you just say so earlier??"

"Did you give me a chance?" Kratos smiled back at a now blushing Anna, who was now madly wheeling to catch up to him.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Within minutes, Lloyd, Zelos, and Sheena were surrounded by a large ring of Desians. All three had their backs towards each other, eyeing their section of enemies.

"So, what are three human brats doing out this late at night?? And so far away from Dorr's protective little Palmacosta sanctuary!" The Desians sniggered.

"Who are these creeps??" Zelos yelled.

"Desians!"

"Who the hell are Desians??" Zelos screamed back.

"You guys don't have Desians?? They're the evil group of people in this world who enslave humans and make them work in ranches!"

"Excuse me??" Zelos and Sheena yelled back.

"I didn't think this world was so backwards they still had human slavery! What the hell!" Zelos hissed, and quickly had his sword in hand, while Sheena got her cards ready.

Lloyd had already unsheathed both of his rapiers and with a cry of a Fierce Demon Fang, everything erupted in pure chaos.

No one wanted to break the formation they had, keeping their backs protected by the other two. They moved like a machine, trying to fight off oncoming barrages of steel and whips. They must've killed at least five Desians each, but the enemy just kept on coming. Soon, they were starting to tire.

The Desians, on the other hand, were rather alarmed at how fierce these groups of kids were. Usually the human stragglers they captured came away wailing and defeated, with the occasional group that knew some fighting skills. Instead, they were facing two well-trained swordsmen and a strange card-fighting girl. The girl was actually the scariest since the Desians had never seen a deck of cards used so dangerously--they never knew what to expect next. As they watched their fellow confident comrades get tossed around like ragdolls, they could feel all the courage leaking out from their legs. A few Desians finally panicked and broke off to call for reinforcements.

"Hey!!" Lloyd shouted amid sword thrusts.

"What??" The other two called back.

"Keep me covered, I'm going to cast a spell to just do away with a bunch of these suckers!"

"You know magic??" Zelos yelled back.

"Just do it, okay??"

"Alrighty!"

Instantly, Zelos and Sheena tried their best to fend off attackers from Lloyd, who had stopped to cast a spell Zelos didn't recognize.

Within seconds, the field around them erupted in giant flames and rock, setting all the Desians around them on fire. Thankfully most of them ignited quickly and died without much torturous pain... but Lloyd really wished the ones that were gasping their last wails would be put out of their misery soon...

"Geezes, Lloyd, was that Eruption??" Zelos yelled, as the smoke cleared and whatever Desians were left outside the ring of their charred counterparts ran away without a backward glance.

"How'd you know?"

"Well, I've only just finished the basic category... that was badass!"

Lloyd scratched his head. "Yeah, I spent some long hours trying to learn that spell... I actually only know that spell, Concealment, and Fireball... and a few other really basic stuff."

Sheena picked her way around the Desians, picking up whatever gald and gels that got strewn around the ground by the fallen Desians. "Anyone need an apple gel? It's a bit melted down, but it should still do the trick."

"Yeah, I'll take one," Lloyd said, feeling the cuts and bruises on his face and arms.

"Sooo, were you forced to take some weird rock when you were little, Lloyd?" Zelos asked.

"Ah, no... oh, but my dad did!"

"Really? So you just inherited it??"

"Inherit? Um, yeah I guess so."

"Soooo... are wings part of the magic rock package too at some point?"

"Oh... I don't know..."

"Hmm... well, I need some First Aid, I refuse to take apple gels hot and fresh off a dead body."

"Oh you know First Aid?"

"_You don't know First Aid? _ Give me a break, that's like the first thing they teach you after the fundamental stuff!"

Lloyd scratched his head sheepishly. "Ah well... it didn't seem all that cool so I didn't bother..."

"Well it's hardly cool, but it's useful! Alright, bud, I'm gonna have to teach you First Aid so you can help _me_ when I'm too caught up in the next fight. I can't be the only nurse around here."

"Alright boys, now that you're done bonding with each other over magic, we need to figure out where to go." Sheena said, impatiently.

Zelos turned and looked at her. "Well, the Desians mentioned something about us being far from Palmacosta, that's not good."

"Palmacosta?"

"Yeah, Lloyd said it's supposed to be the largest city in Sylvarant. So we were gonna check it out and find some hunnies." Zelos replied with a large grin.

"Ugh... well nice going, Zelos, now just how are we even going to get back to the base now that our Rheairds are crashed and burned??" Sheena said angrily.

"Hey, you followed us, you could've just turned around when the going got tough!"

"Well you guys need a rational person!"

"I'm sure we'll find a boat or something, I'm not worried." Zelos said smugly.

"You're never worried enough..." Sheena muttered, her hand on her forehead.

Lloyd was just looking from one to the other, then finally he rolled his eyes and was about to take out his wings to check the area... when he heard another loud rustle in the forest behind them. He turned around and found himself face to face with a giant putrid-green monster. It was easily the the size of a small building, and its arms and legs were long and ungainly. Its eye--or what seemed to be its eye--was a lone giant red ruby that looked like it was forced out of its head. Lloyd froze in shock, he had seen this thing before... but when and where?

"What the hell is _this_??? Just what the hell's wrong with his world???" Zelos cried hoarsely as he dived Sheena out of the way of the monster's massive swipe from its spiked left arm.

Behind the giant monster, a large group of Desians filed out and formed a tight circle around them.

Suddenly, the monster stepped back--or more like, was pulled back like a giant dog on a chain. And a last person emerged, floating on some weird machinery. He also had red hair, but in dreadlocks that seemed to explode from the back of his head. The first thing Zelos felt like doing was to gag into the grass out of sheer horror at how ugly the man was and how greasy the smile on his face was.

"So what have we here... I heard reports of some inferior brats with ex-spheres playing around... I didn't think it was true! I'm so very sorry, but I'm afraid those ex-spheres don't belong to you..."

Something about the monster behind the man made Lloyd shake. Not out of fear, but possibly out of... anger? Lloyd wasn't sure, but whatever it was, gave him some courage to take a step out.

"And who are you?!" Lloyd yelled back, trying to steady his grip on his blades.

The man's shoulders started to shake in what seemed like derisive laughter. A Desian soldier suddenly ran out in front of Magnius and shouted hoarsely at Lloyd.

"How dare you, inferior being! Bow before the presence of Lord Magnius!"

Sheena looked at Zelos with a confused look. Zelos actually looked caught between angry and amused. Finally Sheena looked at Lloyd. "Hey Lloyd, why are they calling us 'inferior beings'?"

Lloyd merely shrugged.

"Look, man," Zelos suddenly spoke up and looked at the ugly man in the eye. "Where I come from, the inferior being's the other way around. Right now I just can't help but think you're suffering from an Extremely. Serious. Inferiority Complex."

Right on cue, Sheena reached into her belt and took out--she looked down briefly with a shocked and angry look--cards of paralysis and threw them at the man's face. Instantly, Zelos turned and looked at her in confusion and Sheena replied hastily that she forgot she had run out of smoke bombs and was gonna get some more.

The loyal, brave Desian soul that had announced Magnius' name had valiantly jumped to take the hits from Sheena's card, and thus fell to the ground stunned. Magnius still had his greasy grin on his face and now he was chuckling.

"Very funny. Now you die." Magnius raised up his hand and floated to the side. Lloyd heard the sound of chains hitting the ground. Without delay, Lloyd started chanting a spell for Eruption as fast as he could under his breath. Zelos had already taken battle stance in front of him to distract the monster. He ran forward and slashed the monster in the gut and chest area followed with spiral up into a light spear technique. When he landed, Sheena instantly rolled in front of Zelos and a great sphere of cards exploded outward, sending a powerful blast of energy and knocking the creature on its back.

The creature suffered a minor concussion from being thrown back against the ground, and slowly and laboriously lifted itself from the rubble. It uttered some feeble sounds, but it still looked perfectly strong. Sheena and Zelos noticed briefly that their attacks had barely scratched through the monster's thick hide. The monster swung its arms out, letting them drop heavily towards Sheena and Zelos. As they rolled out of the way, they could feel the ground shake and the wind displaced from the fall. The creature lifted itself up, its arms thrown in the air, as if unsure of what it wanted to do. Its one red eye focused on nothing, but seemingly everyone in front. It made a motion to run.

The ground then erupted once again in giant tongues of flames and boulders, engulfing the monster and whatever Desians were unfortunate enough to be near it. They could hear the ear-splitting screeches from the monster, which made Lloyd feel sick to his stomach. It was a direct hit from below the monster, which would have caused it to have fallen into the molten crevasse. Lloyd had never used Eruption on anything living before this day and as cool as it seemed when he learned it... he felt maybe a few sword slashes would have been kinder...

Sheena looked back at Lloyd just in time to see him collapse, and ran to catch him before he fell. After popping a quick orange gel and getting his act together, he and Sheena sprinted off to follow Zelos, who was heading for where the monster should be... though there suddenly didn't seem to be any sign of the giant green creature on the ground.

Instead, they found the tattered, charred body of an old woman in the still steaming pit that the Eruption had gouged. All three stopped in complete shock, their hearts in their throats. Lloyd finally fainted, falling right into the arms of Desians as Sheena and Zelos tried to piece their mind back together.

"Sheena, NOOO!!!" A blow came from somewhere behind Sheena and knocked her unconscious. Scores of Desians jumped on Zelos, pinning him to the ground as he watched Sheena and Lloyd get carried away.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Two angels flew under the moonlit sky, their wings shining like groups of fireflies. One was laughing while the other seemed more concerned.

"I guarantee it, Kratos. I'm sure Zelos would want to head to Palmacosta first. There's no reason he'd want to go to Iselia."

Kratos shook his head. "He should know that that is right beyond the radius of the Rheaird's capability here. We briefed them about it days ago."

"I don't think Zelos thinks or listens that hard about certain things..."

"Were we this bad when we were their age, Yuan?"

"I'm pretty sure. Look, four thousand years won't make me forget the day we _accidentally_ set fire to your step-dad's pants as he sat down to eat his pie."

Kratos broke into a hysterical laughter, which made Yuan break into a hysterical laughter at _him_ (since it's been ages Kratos broke into hysterical laughters) and soon both of them were weaving around precariously in the air over the open sea. Finally Kratos forgot to flap his wings for a few seconds and he dropped like a rock into the water below.

"Kratos, you idiot!" Yuan laughed even harder and was in serious danger of forgetting to flap his own wings as he flew down to rescue his friend. But half of his mind realized that and fought hard to keep the motions going. Finally, Yuan dragged a soggy Kratos out of the sea and sloppily cast a drying spell on him, making Kratos' hair puffy and frizzy.

"Dammit Yuan, I can feel the static and it's shocking me all over!" Kratos cried and pushed a completely hysterical Yuan, making _him_ lose the beat of his wings and fall into the ocean.

Many minutes later, both four thousand plus year old angels looked perfectly fresh from the dryer and were watching each other carefully even after a serious call for a truce.

When they reached the shores of Palmacosta, they could already feel that there was something wrong in the air.

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**I was humming hoarsely to various game music when I wrote this, praise be my poor sore tonsils! Come on folks, reviews are the cure! Review, review! Not to mention, I'm super flattered people have my story on their alerts and favorites lists, thanks so much! I just humbly hope that more of you tap the 'submit review' button and give me even one word of 'great', 'nice', or 'update' or whatever, it would make me super happy! **


	20. Chapter 20: The Palmacosta Ranch

**Okay, this chapter is a bit short comparatively since... as when I was writing, I noticed I had started a whole new tangent that would go well over 5000 words. Soooo I decided to cut it at certain spot... and just upload about half of what I got. Muahahhaha! Well that means that the next chapter won't be long in coming at least, hehe.**

**Enjoy!**

**Tales of Symphonia, I do not own. So sad.**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 20: The Palmacosta Ranch

Kratos and Yuan floated speechlessly above the wreckage of the three scattered Rheairds. More disturbing to them were the scorched corpses strewn about the field. Kratos landed next to the badly charred body of an old woman lying in a deep pit. Yuan soon joined him, shaking his head sadly.

"It almost seems like they knew those three were coming. They even had an exbula brought out. I don't understand..." Kratos said sighing as he leaned down to close the eyes of the old woman.

"Magnius is the most intellectually challenged of the Cardinals, I doubt he engineered any kind of fabulous plan. My guess would be a terrible coincidence. I do know that Magnius regularly sends out scouts to round up stragglers and unfortunate travelers outside of Palmacosta."

Kratos continued looking at the old woman with a pained look.

"Let's give her a proper burial and be on our way to the Ranch, Kratos. Quit thinking about depressing stuff."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zelos sat silently in the back of a moving vehicle. Before the doors shut out the last rays of moonlight, he had quickly counted four other dejected looking prisoners besides Sheena and Lloyd in the armored truck. Sheena and Lloyd were still unconscious. He wanted to say something to the other four unfortunate people, but somehow the silence and abject misery that pervaded the total darkness of the place wasn't encouraging. Thus, Zelos was left to his thoughts and only his thoughts, which disturbed him because it was never good when he had the liberty to ruminate.

The image that still shook him was the sight of the old woman. Was the old woman that monster they were fighting? Did they actually kill her? A hapless old grandmother? Who were these Desians? What really was wrong with this world? He didn't want to care about this world. This world in itself shouldn't matter a dime to him, but that old lady...

Countless hours passed by where Zelos wasn't sure if he slept or was mindlessly awake the whole time. However, when the truck jolted to a stop, he got his senses back immediately. Sheena and Lloyd were also jolted awake, though still very much in a groggy state.

"Oh the pain, my head's gonna explode, what's going on?" Sheena said, holding her head in her hands.

Her question was quickly answered as Desians filed them them out one by one. Zelos noticed piles of giant crates were piled alongside the door they were forced into. The four other unfortunate victims were herded one way, but Magnius ordered them to stay put in the hallway.

"Alright kids, how'd you guys get ex-spheres? Let alone keycrests to go with it?"

Zelos thought quickly. "You caught the wrong people! I am the Chosen! Of course, I would have the enhancement of the Cruxis Crystal embedded upon me. These are are my bodyguards, so the must be equipped with exspheres as well. You have made a grave mistake, sir and it would be wise to let us go."

Magnius peered hard at Zelos. It was true that the crystal embedded on his chest was no ordinary exsphere. He didn't know who the Chosen really looked like, but it seemed good enough proof for someone so important. If he were to do harm to the Chosen, he could be in big trouble. There was word that the current Chosen was important to Lord Yggdrassil for reasons he didn't know. His eyes slid over to Sheena's exsphere embedded on the back of her hand. It was a quality keycrest, and not any simple one mass-produced in Ranch. Then his eyes slid over to the next boy.

He had no exsphere.

"You have no exsphere, boy." He said pointedly at Lloyd.

"I-I'm just a strong person, I didn't need it..."

"How were you able to cast magic? You were the one that cast magic earlier I saw it. Are you a half-elf?"

Sheena stepped in and answered for him quickly. "Of course, why else would he be able to cast magic? He's your own kind!"

Magnius narrowed his eyes. He may not be the brightest Cardinal, but as any half-elf, he could sense the mana signature of a fellow half-elf... and this boy was not giving off any half-elf signature.

Magnius smirked.

"Chosen and servant of the Chosen, you must be tired, I will make arrangements for you. I want to talk to my fellow half-elf for bit...like why he would be traveling with filthy beings like you."

Zelos and Sheena watched Lloyd helplessly as Desians took their arms and dragged them down a corridor.

Magnius' eyes slid back to Lloyd. Lloyd was doing his best not to shake in fear, he had a feeling he was in an extremely bad situation and any spell he'd try to cast would take too long. Not to mention, he had his swords confiscated from him. Now what?

"You're just a filthy human, boy. I don't know how you managed some fancy magic and I don't care. Slap that old hag's unfinished exsphere on him and move him to the cells."

Instantly, the two Desians next to him wrestled him to the ground and with a knife, gouged small part of his skin away from the back of his hand making Lloyd scream in pain. The other Desian then twisted the exsphere into the new wound. Immediately, the exsphere took root and Lloyd could feel his hand shaking from the alien feeling that was invading through his arm. Within moments, that feeling had traveled up to his head causing a intense headache. He screamed in pure agony, the sound reverberating through the hallways and causing the Desians close by to cover their ears. Within moments, Lloyd saw nothing but bright white.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Man, what kind of royal treatment is this??" Zelos muttered, as they were pushed into a cell full of three other haggard prisoners.

Sheena looked around worriedly. "I'm more worried about Lloyd..."

"I know, I am too... But... we don't know what's going on, and we can't just sit here and think of 'what if's'..."

A young woman in tattered rags looked up at the fresh new prisoners.

"New prisoners, huh? You look fresh enough."

"We um, just got here, yes. My name is Zelos, and this is Sheena."

"My name is Chocolat. But it means nothing, we are all numbers here."

Something besides the sickening bruises and cuts on her face and arms caught Zelos' eye. "What is that on the back of your hand? It looks terrible."

The woman looked down at the exsphere embedded in her hand. It had taken root under her skin and corroded the area around it.

"I don't know, did they not slap one on you before you came? It's what they do to everyone who comes here..."

The other two prisoners finally looked up. One was a relatively young boy and the other was a young girl. Both also had the gruesome gems embedded in their hands.

Sheena walked over the two young children. The smell in the cell was terrible as they had not washed since they had gotten there. Even worse, the children suffered deep cuts and bruises all over their body as well. The expressions on their faces were of such abject despair that Sheena was very near bursting to tears.

"What are your names?"

The boy looked up. "Jay." The girl did not look up. "Kirima."

Sheena looked at the exsphere mounted on her hand. Then looked back at the exspheres on theirs.

"Zelos, they have no keycrest... these are exspheres without mounts!"

Zelos looked horrified but confused. "What does that mean? Did Yuan ever tell us about them?"

"Yuan just said it would help make us more powerful... but we already had the mount attached before they put the exsphere in..."

Zelos sat down on an overturned bucket. "So... do you feel more powerful, by any chance?"

"Zelos!" Sheena yelled, annoyed at his dumb question.

"Oh, no way, after they put this on... I can feel my energy draining every day."

"What do you do here?" Sheena asked.

"We push boxes. I don't know why. But we push large heavy boxes around the inside of the Ranch. If we so much as slow down slightly, they whip us mercilessly. Then every week, we get herded to some room where they check this thing--she pointed to the exsphere-- in some machine or something. Then they send us back out."

"How long have you been here?" Sheena asked, trying really hard not to break down from the horrible wounds she was seeing on the children and on the young woman.

"I've been here for two months... my grandmother was caught a few weeks before I was." A tear ran down her dirt-encrusted cheek. "I-I should have listened to my mom, I shouldn't have left the city to chase after grandma... but grandma, sh-she, you don't know how much she means to me... I'm sorry, I know I'm rambling..."

Sheena shook her head. Zelos suddenly looked at her in horror.

"Are there, um, many old people they catch here? I mean, it seems horrible and senseless for them to force a grandmother to do hard labor..."

"Grandfather fought with Governor-General Dorr against the Desians... as punishment, they took Grandma away..."

Zelos looked even paler. "Is... is she still here? I mean, just in another cell?"

Sheena looked up in horror, finally realizing what Zelos was hinting at.

"She was taken away this morning for some reason... I hope she will be back soon..."

Zelos looked at Sheena, who had tears running down her cheeks. It almost seemed an odd sight for him since Sheena had always been so tough and strong. Sheena, on the other hand, had never seen Zelos look so genuinely sad before, and that was heart-breaking as well. She walked over to Zelos and put an arm around his shoulders, trying to steady him.

"Is your mother okay?" Sheena finally asked.

Chocolat looked at her feet. "She is still in Palmacosta... running Grandma's store... She must be so sad and so worried, I feel so guilty... and father's in the army, following Grandpa's footsteps."

Zelos was suddenly seized with a desire to laugh, he was feeling so incredibly sad and depressed. Thankfully he kept it in check, but his shoulders still shook. "Hey, Chocolat, right? Don't worry, we'll get out of this hell-hole and back to Palmacosta, I guarantee it."

Sheena looked at Zelos in surprise. That boy, making promises he can't reliably fulfill! But he looked so serious that Sheena felt some of his resolve seep into her. "He's right, don't--"

An ear-splitting blast was heard somewhere in the compound. All the prisoners went to the bars, looking out to see what was going on. Sheena and Zelos were immediately on their feet with the others. The alarms were deafening and the room was bathed in a bloody red glow.

"Do you think Yuan and Kratos found us?" Sheena asked hopefully.

"I dunno, this is crazy! But we're gonna take advantage of it!"

The Desians themselves were running amok, completely caught off guard and had no received no intelligence as to what that blast was.

Then, another huge blast shook the building, closer to where they were. Zelos could see the walls were cracking and plaster was falling everywhere. He tried shaking the bars, but they were still solidly fixed. A thought occurred to him and after telling everyone to get far behind him, he started chanting a spell for stone blast. Rocks erupted from the floor of the cell damaging the bars enough that they could barely slip out. Sheena quickly ran out and took care of the few Desians that were caught by surprise. When that was finished, she went to the controls and found the release for the cells, setting all the prisoners free.

"We need to get out of here, quick! I think this building's gonna go down!" Just as Zelos said that, another concussive explosion caused a corner of the room to start tumbling. People were screaming and running for cover.

"Is there a map, Sheena?? Is it in the system??"

Sheena looked at the computer frantically, trying to find a way to access a map before getting crushed by falling debris. Finally she found something she figured was close enough and pointed at a door to their right.

Zelos by now, was going around quickly administering first-aid to the weakest, trying to give them at least a boost of energy to run. Everyone realized that the two strange people seemed to be their saviors and looked to them for guidance without question.

"To the door on the right! Run, I'll lead!" Sheena yelled.

It was a wild stampede and Zelos chose to stay in the rear to push the weaker ones. By now concrete blocks were falling and he did all he could to push people through the door without getting killed.

When they finally reached the dirt patches outside and saw the young morning sun, their jaws dropped as they saw what had happened to the facility. Half of the building had collapse and dust plumes were rising like an acrid smoke. The Desians were now fleeing for their lives away from the Ranch, and giving the prisoners no heed. Zelos gave the order for the prisoners to keep running and run for their lives past the gates that were opened by the fleeing Desians.

"Come on Sheena! We need to get further away!"

"But where's Lloyd??" Sheena cried frantically, looking at all the people running away.

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**Sorry if there were more grammatical/spelling mistakes in this one, I didn't quite give it the run through I usually do before posting. BUT ANYWAY, review! Even one word that says "excellent" is enough to make me super happy!**


	21. Chapter 21: Chaos

**Sorry if I didn't get to reply to all of you! But hopefully your questions will be answered in this chapter!!! And I'm sure new ones will come up! hehe...**

** Thanks for all the reviews, story alerts, and favorite story additions!!! I was absolutely thrilled! Now if _everyone_ reviewed... I'd be comatose with glee (but I'll be back up and furiously writing the next chapter with super-charged energy, don't worry) **

**Yes, I don't own Tales of Symphonia, OKAY? **

**Now for the story...**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 21: Chaos

Zelos gritted his teeth. "Lloyd must still be in that Ranch somewhere... Hey, that place where it's all caved in... wasn't that where we were first brought in? I remember all those boxes piled around that door... of course they're all crushed and stuff now, but I think that was where we were."

"Maybe... maybe Yuan and Kratos is in there trying to get Lloyd out already! I'm going in to check!" Sheena said and sprinted off without another word.

"Sheena! No! It's too dangerous!" Zelos yelled. More and more of the place was caving in, and Desians were flooding out of the door that Zelos had recognized.

Zelos chased after Sheena, who was pushing aside people to get through the door. Some of the Desians looked at her confusedly, wondering why anyone would want to go back in. There was another blast that shook the building, causing Desians to duck and try to cover their heads before they continued running.

They blindly ran through the hallways yelling for Lloyd, Yuan, or Kratos. There was a clump in the middle of the hallway of what seemed like smoldering, melted, twisted metal with something else it, all surrounded by parts of Desians. Upon closer inspection, Sheena gasped and jumped back. It was Magnius, except he was all but burned and obliterated from a high energy blast. He was still in his machine, but that itself was charred and smoking. Sheena noticed that his right hand was hanging over the machine. It had an exsphere and a crest on it. She quickly pried them off.

"What are you doing, sicko!" Zelos cried, still sickened at the site.

"I've just got this feeling... okay? Maybe they tried to force an exsphere on Lloyd without a keycrest... I doubt Magnius had bought my story that he was a half-elf after all..."

"Hmm, good call."

They heard another loud blast and screams of pain down the hallway to their right. Running with their hearts in their throats, they followed the sound of shouting and blasts through countless hallways. Finally they turned a corner and saw Lloyd alone, standing calmly in a large hallway holding in one hand, what was clearly a sword that belonged to one of the Desians. In his other hand he had a giant ball of some kind of concentrated mana aimed at the ceiling above a large group of various high-ranked Desians trying to get a hit on him. The party of hardened Desians, however, was getting smaller as more than a few just finally turned tail and ran.

Any Desian behind Lloyd that got anywhere close to him was instantly struck through with a sword, followed by electrocution. And Lloyd would not even look at where he was stabbing, it was as if his arm alone could sense where people were coming. Other Desians mages were frantically casting spells from far away, but whatever spells they cast that hit Lloyd didn't faze him at all. He looked burnt from the spells thrown at him, but showed no reaction.

Lloyd suddenly unleashed the giant, unknown spell right into the ceiling above the group of Desians, causing that part of the ceiling to cave in, and the other Desians to frantically rush around, avoiding the falling chunks of concrete. Some were caught behind the rubble, and they just turned and ran.

"LLOYD!" Sheena shouted in utter disbelief, stepping back.

He turned in their direction at the sound and Sheena choked a scream when she saw his eyes. His irises were a blood-red color that seemed to see nothing. His face was completely devoid of emotion.

She was shaking so hard, and grabbing Zelos' hand so tightly her knuckles were white. It was more than clear now that Yuan and Kratos did not come.

Zelos himself was shaking in total fear and confusion, getting ready to dodge in case this Lloyd felt like firing a blast at them. Thankfully, none of the other Desians around cared about them, since they were more concerned about the devil in front of them. Most of them turned and ran when they saw that Lloyd was distracted by the newcomers.

"Sheena," Zelos said in a low voice urgently. "He _does_ have an exsphere embedded on the back of his right hand, it looks just like Chocolat's, all nasty looking without a keycrest. Now we ju--"

Sheena suddenly pushed Zelos against the wall to the right. Lloyd had suddenly dashed at them, sweeping his sword smoothly, slicing deep into Sheena's back as she fell against Zelos and both collapsed on the ground.

A Desian suddenly rushed behind Lloyd in the fray, managing to whip him hard on the back, making Lloyd lose his balance for a bit. Just as quickly, a mage unleashed a fireball, hitting Lloyd in the face as he turned around.

Zelos quickly scrambled and grabbed Lloyd's feet which were close to him and pulled hard, sending Lloyd to the ground and pinning him there. Lloyd's horribly burnt face made Zelos cringe. The more disturbing thing was Lloyd's expression was as unfeeling as ever, as if he didn't feel any pain. Without warning, Lloyd grabbed Zelos' arms, which were pinning his wrist down and sent shock waves up Zelos' arms, making him scream in pain. But he did not let go.

"SHEENA, QUICK!!!"

Sheena quickly scooted over painfully and grabbed Lloyd's right hand--getting shocked in the process--and despite her hand shaking uncontrollably, was able to force the keycrest over the exsphere in Lloyd's hand.

Instantly, Lloyd went limp, his eyes still open with those blood-red irises.

"Oh my god, did I kill him??" Sheena cried, putting her hands to her mouth.

Zelos was shaking uncontrollably from the prolonged shock he received. He quickly put his head on Lloyd's chest.

"He's still got a beat, he must've just passed out." Zelos closed Lloyd's eyes with his shaking hand. Suddenly, he remembered there were still Desians, and looked around the room... but saw no one.

"Funny, all the Desians must've ran when they saw Lloyd pre-occupied with us. Good for us."

A sudden rumble was heard nearby as more destabilized parts of the compound caved in.

Zelos quickly scooped up Lloyd and carried him as both of them ran along the corridors again, avoiding falling rocks and dead Desians. Sheena felt her vision blur as she ran. Then suddenly she tripped over a dead Desian's leg and collapsed. Zelos looked back in shock and saw that her back was covered in blood. But there was nothing he could do, since he was carrying Lloyd and getting weaker by the second from the shock he had taken.

"Sheena! Come on! Get up, we need to get out of here! It's not much further I swear! There! I see that nasty lump of Magnius there in the distance, let's _go!_"

Sheena rose like the dead, and pushed herself along following as fast as she could. Now her ankle was twisted, but it seemed a trifle issue compared to the rest of her injuries.

Finally, what felt like eons to her, they made it out of the building as it collapsed further behind them. Within moments, the cracks on the side of the building started give way.

Sheena collapsed to the ground right after they got to the trees, but just far away enough that hopefully they wouldn't be crushed by any falling concrete. Zelos put Lloyd down and cast First Aid on Sheena's deep back wound, healing it as best he could. Sheena looked up tiredly, giving him a feeble smile. "Can you do my right ankle, too?"

Zelos fixed her up as best he could with the rudimentary spell. He was feeling exhausted and searched for a orange gel to chew on.

Sheena looked at Zelos worriedly. "Lloyd... doesn't look so good either... I mean he took all those fireballs and other spells and didn't even care to block them."

Zelos looked at Lloyd, who was bruised, burnt, and just not in the best shape. "I... uh... I'm not sure I want to revive him though, Sheena..."

Sheena grimaced. She wanted to argue, but wasn't sure she wanted Lloyd revived either if he was still crazy. "Well... we did manage to put the keycrest on the exsphere... Would it be safe to take off?"

"No, no, let's not risk that... The fact that Lloyd got all crazy instead of like the other prisoners really must mean there's something we don't know about him. Well, the keycrest _did_ knock him out... though his eyes were still red afterwards and freaky looking. But maybe it'll keep him from being destructive if he does wake up? Ugh, maybe we should just leave him and run ourselves."

"WHAT!"

"I'm joking, joking... We'd be killed by old man Kratos anyway if we did that... that is, if Lloyd here doesn't accidentally kill us first."

"Remember, this is all your fault! You started this! We're taking responsibility for Lloyd! Poor kid!" Sheena said angrily.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I know, okay..."

"Now what should we do?" Sheena sighed exasperatedly.

"Well, I have no clue where we are in this godforsaken world. And the only other person who might know anything is currently comatose. Let's try to find one of the prisoners we set free and follow them. They should know where they're going... maybe."

Sheena nodded. What else could they do? They could wait for Yuan and Kratos, but they don't even know if they're really even coming or not. As far as she knows, they could still be sipping a kirima cocktail at the Triet base thinking that them stupid kids are just having some dumb adventure near base. She sighed.

As they walked through the forest, sometimes Desians would still run past them, giving no attention to them. After about half an hour, they made it out to an open meadow and saw mountains in the distance. They also saw a few ragtag ex-prisoners in the distance walking to the left.

"Hey!" Zelos shouted as he ran towards them. "Where are you going?"

A young man smiled broadly and waved when he saw Zelos. "Oh, our rescuers!! We are going to Thoda, that's our hometown. Who is that there in your arms?"

Zelos looked down at the limp Lloyd. "Oh... our friend, we had to go back and rescue him since they took him somewhere else..."

"Oh I see, the poor boy needs to see a doctor quickly."

"So, do you know where Palmacosta is?" Zelos asked hopefully.

An old woman looked at them funny. "Son, you are very far from Palmacosta at this rate. It will take you a good week or more to get there from here. Are you from there?"

"Uh no... we actually were hoping to find a boat to go back to... um, Triet?" Sheena said, hesitantly.

"Triet???? Good Goddess Martel, how did you get here at all?? Well I don't think you'll be able to find any boats even if you got there, because word is, all ships are grounded because there has been an extraordinary amount of monsters at sea lately."

Sheena looked at Zelos, with something of an I-told-you look. Zelos just looked devastated for a second. "Well, so where's Thoda?"

"Have you not heard of it? It is the jumping off point to where you can travel to the famous Thoda Geyser."

"What's so famous about it? We're newcomers..." Sheena said, as they walked alongside the little group.

"Bless my soul! It is one of the wonders of the world and you don't know anything about it?? It is said that the Spirit of Water herself resides there and causes the tremendous geysers to spray extremely hot water hundreds of feet into the air! Travelers from all over the world come to see it. It's an amazing site, you must see it!"

"We might could do some bit of help for the poor boy as well... the waters from the geyser are said to have healing properties and we bottle them up for use at the Martel temple," the young man piped in. "You two saved all our lives. We owe you any help we can offer."

"Well," Sheena said grinning, "the geyser does sound amazing! And if you could help our friend, we would be super grateful."

Sheena turned toward Zelos and said in a low voice. "If the Spirit of Water really is here, then maybe we can make a pact with her and find a way for her to get us back to Triet base!"

"Cool okay, let's do it!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

As Kratos and Yuan floated quickly along towards the Ranch, they noticed a stampede of some kind running towards them from a distance. They quickly landed and walked instead, getting ready to defend themselves if needed. Within minutes, Desians and ragtag human prisoners alike were running for their lives without a care about each other.

Kratos and Yuan stopped in their tracks staring at the passing stampede in awe. Kratos reached out and nabbed a passing haggard-looking prisoner.

"What happened?" Kratos asked anxiously.

"There was a crazy explosion at the Palmacosta Ranch! And then these two kids helped break us out and lead us out of the prisons!"

"Two kids? What did they look like?"

"One was a boy with long red hair and the other was a girl with black hair."

"Have you seen a boy with short brown hair and red clothes?"

"No, sir, we haven't."

"I see..." Kratos said sadly, and gave the man a lemon gel.

Yuan quickly asked another question before he left. "Wait, do you know where those two are or where they went?"

"They just told us to go... and then I think they went back in the Ranch for some reason. But the whole place was crumbling down, I hope they made it out okay. I dunno what hit the place but it was mighty powerful! I heard even that Magnius was killed!"

"Really!" Both Yuan and Kratos exclaimed as the man finally nodded his thanks and left.

Yuan pondered the chaotic situation around them. Where were these Desians going to go? As much as he resented them, he knew they really weren't all bad. If they left them running amok, they could go attack human towns. And the humans... they need to get their exspheres taken off with the right keycrest. Yuan leaned over to Kratos and stated his concerns. After a few minutes of discussion, they broke apart.

Yuan took out his wings and floated above, making everyone stop in their tracks.

"Desians. Have you learned your lesson from the Goddess Martel? I am a messenger here to spread her word. As half-elves you are not to continue the brutal acts you have been doing in the accursed Ranches. Humans, you yourselves need to try to let go of your hatred towards the Desians, as they were misled by evil forces. I know it will not be easy. Desians, if you want repent your ways for the good, follow me and I will lead you to a safe place."

Yuan turned and looked down at Kratos, who nodded. Yuan was going to try to recruit whatever Desians he could and convert them to Renegades. He was going to have to do a lot of explaining about Yggdrassil and himself... Hopefully his angel act will also allow him to grab a boat in Palmacosta as well to make the journey back... In all, it was going to be a huge gamble, but Yuan, as he always did, was always willing to help wayward half-elves, even if they were lost Desians. The Desians that were just bad to the core, however, he would probably figure them out and root them out on the way towards the Renegade base.

It was an amazing sight. Most of the Desians were on their knees, and when they heard the message they got up and followed Yuan. They knew that without a Ranch, they had no where else to go anyway. The humans merely stood there in awe as the Desians walked past them.

Kratos turned towards the humans and took out his wings as well. "Humans, prisoners of Desians who have taken so much sadness and savagery, come to me." Now the humans scrambled towards him.

"A-are you really a messenger from the Goddess Martel? Why did you only show up now?" One of the older women cried, as she fell to her knees, tears falling from her eyes.

"There is a time and a place for everything, the ways of the world work in esoteric ways. More importantly, I urge all of you not to take off the gem that has been embedded in your hands. It is a cursed object that cannot be taken out until a special holy crest has been placed on it. The knowledge of making this crest was entrusted to the dwarves. I will send a message out to the dwarf that lives in Iselia to come to your aid. When he comes to Palmacosta, you must visit him immediately."

The humans nodded, still rather confused.

"Gather before me, and I will heal you all."

Kratos cast a Healing Stream, relieving everyone of their injuries and fatigue.

"Now, quickly make your way back to Palmacosta and rest."

Not wanting to stay longer, Kratos quickly floated to the air--took a last glance down at the shocked group of humans who were on their knees and shouting their praises--and shot off towards to Ranch, desperate to find more information about Lloyd.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

There was a commotion back in the Triet Base, a Rheaird had touched down and no one had recognized the badly injured woman and girl who had collapsed as soon as the Rheaird landed. The Renegades gone back and brought out stretchers but were still unsure as to who the two were and whether they should help them.

Anna had been talking with Botta, when the news came. Botta was going to go alone but Anna insisted on coming. Thus Botta rushed Anna quickly towards the scene, where Anna quickly recognized the woman and the girl unconscious on the floor.

"Oh Martel! It's Raine and Colette! Where is Genis???" Anna cried, as Botta quickly issued an order for them to be taken to the clinic immediately.

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**Alrighty folks! Cliffhangers abound! What do you think?? REVIEW! Review!!! **


	22. Chapter 22: The Sides of Insanity

**Ohh, I've been playing Super Mario Galaxy and I have to say, I've been pretty impressed with the _music_! And of course it's ridiculously psychedelic and fun. I mean it, psycho. I really wonder if the makers of the game were on something the whole time in order to come up with half the stuff! **

**Anyway, this chapter ended up pretty long, and I still felt like I didn't get to say all I had to say... buuuuut enjoy it anyway! And wait for the next update!  
**

** I's doesn't owne Tales of Symphonia.  
**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 22: The Sides of Insanity

Anna stayed in the clinic every hour that she could, watching and waiting for Raine or Colette to awaken. Nevil the medic had told her that Raine had suffered serious damage from what seemed like magical attacks while Colette seemed to have been crushed by something physically.

Raine looked the worst. It seemed that she had taken a direct blast in the chest since her body looked badly bruised and the blood from internal injury had damaged the area badly. Nevil did what he could after casting Heal and tending to her wounds meticulously. His magic could only heal so much, the rest would depend on her own body's healing mana.

Anna was dozing off in her chair next to a night lamp when suddenly she heard a low groan. Instantly she sat up and saw that Raine was looking at her dazedly with barely open eyes.

"Raine! You're awake! It's been almost a whole day already... just what in the world happened in Iselia??"

Raine flinched from the pain of shifting her body slightly to sit up.

"...he's gone..."

Anna moved in closer to hear what was barely a whisper from Raine.

"Gone? what do you mean?"

"Mithos... he turned... turned e-evil and tried to kill Genis... but for some reason he couldn't, he was straining to throw that blast at Genis... but he couldn't... Mithos, the good Mithos must still be there... but instead... since he couldn't kill him, he took him to lock him up forever somewhere..."

Tears fell silently from Raine's eyes. Her face was twisted from the effort of trying not to cry. It was somehow an even more heart-wrenching sight for Anna since Raine's usual expression was one of reason and perfect control.

"Why? Why did he want to kill Genis?" Anna asked softly.

"W-when he suddenly reverted to that other personality... he suddenly took notice of Genis and said something... I think he believes Genis to be the reason that he had switched to the sweet Mithos we knew. So now he thinks he's dangerous and wants to kill him."

"What triggered Mithos to change? What happened?" Anna suddenly felt bad for asking. This was an interrogation and not what Raine needed.

Raine shook her head sadly. "That stupid mayor... that stupid, stupid mayor..."

"I see, no, don't talk about it anymore, you need to rest more," Anna said quickly.

Raine kept shaking her head. She was staring at her hands, but her eyes were glazed over with the past. "No, no, it's not correct for me to blame him completely. Genis had taken Mithos to see the Iselian Ranch and somehow they got too close and some Desians sensed them and followed them back. When they ratted to the whole town... that's when everything... that's when the mayor said absolutely fanatical things to us, and Mithos... I don't know, but that must be the trigger, to be reminded of such total discrimination... I almost don't blame him. Immediately... without warning, I could see Mithos' eyes change to the pale blue in half a second. He had a horrible smile, a twisted one... his eyes filled with such enmity... Genis saw him too, and when Mithos stepped towards the mayor, the mayor should have known that he had just asked for his death, he was shaking in such utter fear. I have never felt such a hateful, insane mana... so contemptuous that even the human mayor could feel it. Even the Desians that had followed us, had scrambled away, I saw them nowhere... When M-mithos--I shouldn't say Mithos--when he walked up right in front of the mayor... a-and in a flash, he took out large beautiful wings that shimmered brightly--they were smaller than Lloyd's-- but so he was an angel! Then what he said, burned into my head: "I am Lord Yggdrassil, the Leader of the Angels of Cruxis who watches and controls these worlds. Human scum, you are merely... nothing." Instantly, he summoned such power into his hand and completely disintegrated the mayor... all that was left was the echo of his scream and wha-whatever particles were left falling. All the townspeople were watching, frozen in fear as he turned to look around the town, still with that awful twisted smile... then suddenly chanted a spell in a language I think was Angelic and within moments, columns of pure, devastating light fell from the sky, smashing homes, killing whoever was caught in the random rain of death... Genis, oh, when Mithos--should I say, Yggdrassil-- saw Genis, who could know his hatred could go so much deeper... he pointed a finger at Genis and I instantly jumped in front... but nothing happened. He started laughing...an absolute madman. I hid Genis behind me, I wouldn't let him near him... but then h-he said, "oh you are a half-elf, I will let you live." The next thing I knew, a huge concentrated source of mana had hit me full in the body and I was doubling over in pain. The next split second, he had his attention on Genis, he was shouting, he was saying how he must be the trigger that let his weak side out and that he can't have this obstacle and started another spell of some sort, but suddenly his hand was shaking, he seemed to be having an internal struggle. Genis was crying, he kept shouting for Mithos, and trying to get near him. But finally Yggdrassil screamed an inhuman scream and shouted that if he couldn't kill him then he will lock him away forever... I ran, I ran to try to get to Genis first, but he was already in the air-- Yggdrassil held him by the throat... Then they disappeared in a flash of white feathers of light..."

Anna put a hand on Raine's arm, consoling her as best she could. She asked softly, "How did you find Colette?"

"Oh Collete, the Chosen! I had to make sure she was okay. I tried to heal myself as best I could and everyone I could find, but it just wasn't enough, I was hurt too deeply. Thankfully Genis had left his wing pack in the house, which was half destroyed. I ran in to find it. When I ran out and took out the Rheaird, Phaidra had limped there with Colette, who had been crushed by falling beams in her house. Colette was barely conscious and Phaidra begged me to take her to a safe place on the Rheaird. But I didn't understand why she would trust me now... Those Desians had ratted us out as half-elves! But she shook her head and said she would always trust me, half-elf or not, I was a good person. I started crying, Phaidra said she would be okay and that some of the villagers are still fine and that they would recuperate as best they could... All I could do... was offer to heal her as best I could before I left. Then I took Colette and flew south, in the direction Genis had told me before to the Renegade base... I-I still can't believe I made it..." Raine fell silent for a moment. "Where... where is Yuan and Kratos?"

"They... they're out looking for a Lloyd and couple other teenagers... One of the more rambunctious teens--Zelos, he must've taken Lloyd out somewhere dangerous on their Rheairds." Anna shifted a bit uncomfortably, lines of worry etched in her face. "Seeing that Yuan and Kratos have been gone for a few days now... I...I don't know. They should be back soon though, I hope..."

It had been something that had made Anna more and more worried as each day passed, and Raine and Colette's sudden arrival had actually been something of a welcome distraction.

"Who is Zelos?"

Anna took a deep sigh. "He... and Sheena, the girl, just currently train at the base for some special reason..."

Raine nodded wearily and leaned her head back against her pillow, the tired circles under her eyes more pronounced in the warm lamp light. Under her breath, she concentrated a Heal spell on her chest area, slowly calling forth her body's mana to hasten the healing process of her internal injuries. After resting for a minute, she could feel the pain lessen considerably.

"Anna, do they have any books here? I would like to take my mind off and read something..."

"They do, there's a general study that has some medical, magic and other books. Then I know Yuan also has a private library in his own study, but I've never really looked at his books."

"Really? Why not?"

Anna shrugged. "I never really thought about it."

"Does he lock the door?"

A knowing smile slowly spread across Anna's face. "Raine! I'd never expect you to want to raid people's private library! Honestly, I don't know if he locks his office or not."

"Let's go! I want to get out of here and move around. It does no good to sit here and feel helpless about Genis. Not to mention, maybe we can find out a thing or two about their evil organization they were so secret about!"

Thus, Raine quickly got out of bed, checked on the still peacefully sleeping Colette, and helped wheel Anna out.

"Show me the way!" Raine said happily.

They passed by assistant medics who were shocked at the patient out of bed, but Raine assure them that she was much happier this way. As they turned the corners and went down the hallways, Raine made her introductions to the Renegade soldiers along the way. Many of the Renegades were extra intrigued when they noted that Raine was a fellow half-elf that seemed to have floated off independently in the world. Raine listened in interest to their stories and how they ended up in the Renegades. Many turned out to be either lost souls Yuan found around the cities, or disillusioned Desians who ran away from the Ranches once they realized they had other options.

"Here it is, Yuan's study." Anna proclaimed grandly at a closed door not any different from the others. Raine quickly took a quick look around and found the area clear. Then she put her hand on the sensor, and the door opened.

"Excellent." Raine said, smiling mischievously as the lights in the room automatically illuminated a lavish room with a wall of extremely old looking books to the near left.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

It was at about the fourth rest stop that Zelos finally had enough. He had set Lloyd down on the ground to take a rest with everyone else, but finally decided that it was worth the risk of healing him and hopefully getting him to walk on his own two feet. They had about another day's journey before hitting Thoda. Sheena didn't say anything at first, but merely looked caught between arguing and agreeing. The other members of the group were merely confused at why Zelos wouldn't want to heal someone if he could.

Zelos bent over Lloyd and pried an eyelid open. Sheena was looking closely next to him.

"It's still bloody red and creepy, Sheena," Zelos whispered.

Sheena looked at him grimly. If they revived him and he ends up acting weird, what would the group say?

"Fine. Fine, I can't do it. We'll revive him when we get to the geyser place or whatever and figure out where that summon spirit resides. Then we can find a cave and privately see if he's going to kill everyone around a mile radius of him or not. I can do it. I can sacrifice for our friends here."

Sheena rolled her eyes. "Hey, I carried him for a bit. I can carry him some more."

"Yeah, you did for like for half an hour, not five hours. You know what, we need a sled."

"A sled. This is no Flanoir, idiot."

Finally after a few hours, they all got in a circle and was able to make a makeshift stretcher out of an old blanket someone had found himself gripping when he ran out, and a couple large sticks of bamboo (of course, it grows around there). When they made it to Thoda, Zelos, Sheena, and the comatose Lloyd stayed a quick night with one of their companions. And then the next morning, they made their way to the docks.

"Washtubs." Zelos intoned, as he stared at the tubs floating around the dock. "This world is ghetto as hell."

"Well... I mean, this world's capable of making boats and ships, they exist in Palmacosta... maybe this is just a touristy thing you know?" Sheena said grimacing, not entirely believing her own defense. The townspeople really seemed... excited about their washtubs. Surely it wasn't a technological feat...

It really wasn't easy carrying a stretcher with a comatose, burnt looking boy around wherever they went. People stared at them and it was the kind of attention Zelos really didn't care to receive. The geysers were cool, but they weren't really so cool when he was carrying the other half of the stretcher while looking at it. He looked around the area and saw some touristy info boards and whatnot. Finally he spotted a strange stone slab.

"There, that's gotta be it. I remember Yuan saying something about Chosens who can open special doors by putting their hand on a special oracle stone or something. Let's go, I'm tired of lugging this body around. Lloyd owes me big time."

"Lloyd _got_ us out of the freakin Ranch place, I think we owe _him_ the favor."

"Yeah but did he do it consciously? No." Zelos laid his hand on the smooth stone and saw the tablet illuminate and a translucent bridge appear towards a cave behind the geyser. "Sweeeet, I really am the Chosen!"

Sheena rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad it couldn't tell you were the Chosen from the wrong world."

"Look, man, Chosens are Chosens, we're just a special breed."

Sheena smirked as they made their way across the bridge into the cave. They took no heed of the slack-jawed onlookers on the other side of the geyser. Thankfully none of them felt like following them either.

When they walked further in enough, they finally put the stretcher down rather unceremoniously. Then Zelos turned towards Sheena suddenly.

"Sheena, I always loved you, baby."

She looked at him horrified. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Look, we might die, we might as well declare our love in case we die instantly."

"Uh, I like you too?"

Zelos gave a look of utter hurt and rejection.

"No, come on, alright... I'm no romantic, you know..." Sheena went over and gave him a hug, of which Zelos quickly abused the moment and felt her around. That, of course, earned him a sharp knee in the right place and settling Zelos in a fetal position on the ground in pain.

"Okay, I think we'll die happy enough, let's revive poor Lloyd here. I honestly don't think he'll go berserk with the key crest on. Maybe not _normal_, but hopefully not too harmful..."

Zelos took one last look at Lloyd, and cast about five First Aids while popping some orange gels. Lloyd's face and body slowly healed up and looked okay again, which made Sheena sigh in relief. Then they waited.

And waited.

Suddenly they were attacked by some weird octoslime from behind. Sheena, who thankfully never had her cards confiscated since the Desians had no idea they were weapons of destruction, immediately took action and rolled into position around the octoslime, hitting it with a Power Seal from the side.

Zelos, whipped out his fresh blade he bought from the local store and jumped in with a few slashes followed by a sonic thrust.

They were preoccupied with the octoslime when they suddenly felt a huge explosion behind them.

Whey they turned around, they found Lloyd standing there with his blood-red eyes, toasting a rabid starfish they didn't notice before. But Lloyd only just stood there after that staring at the toasted thing.

"Help us, come on!" Zelos yelled, but got no response.

Then he got an idea. He body-slammed the alarmed octoslime and sent it flying towards Lloyd, Lloyd instantly fried it right before impact.

"Okay Sheena, I've got a strategy. It's perfect. Any enemy we see, we'll just push 'em over to Lloyd to fry."

Sheena looked at him and sighed. "That's horrible, we're totally using him. I'm sure he's got a limit somewhere, and he'll be all out of mana before we even get to the Spirit..." Her eyes widened. "Oh, yeah he can help us with the Spirit, can't he...? Oh Martel, we are so evil... I'm so sorry Lloyd!"

Sheena and Zelos decided to give Lloyd a break and take care of all the minor enemies along the way. Lloyd followed them wordlessly (they were very thankful, since they were hoping they didn't have to touch him, or make him move. Or do anything remotely threatening that might end in their demise).

When they entered the portal on the ground that would take them to Undine, Sheena's heart was beating furiously. This was the first time she could put her lessons to the test! She felt so nervous and excited at the same time, and only briefly gave a thought about the possibility of death.

She walked up to the water shrine. But something wasn't right.

"Mana's building up! And it ain't friendly!" Zelos yelled.

They found themselves surrounded by a mermaid and a couple underlings.

Quickly, Sheena asked in desperation, "Are you um, by any chance, Undine?"

"No, I am Adulocia. We are the defenders of the Seal of Water."

"The Seal? What Seal? We just want to make a pact with Undine!"

The mermaid looked at her funny. "Undine lies asleep, as does all the spirits of Sylvarant. You must break the seal to awaken Undine. In other words, you must fight us first."

Sheena looked at Zelos with a horrified look. Zelos just shrugged helplessly and took a few steps behind Lloyd. "I um, will be in charge of healing Lloyd here. Bud, good luck."

"We need to take care of the underlings, Zelos! Come on!"

Sheena quickly ran streamline behind the nearest underling and cards exploded from her hands in a Mirage Seal, knocking it briefly before it retaliated with a blast of deadly bubbles.

Zelos decided he would do better helping Sheena take one out than try to take on the other one himself. He danced behind the underling as it was attacking Sheena with bubbles and slashed several times before carving it up with a light spear.

Meanwhile, Adulocia picked the wrong opponent to fight. She went after the boy that didn't seem to be in any mood to fight at all. Unfortunately as soon as she whipped her tail out to crush him against the cavern walls, the boy emotionlessly grabbed her tail in mid-swing and sent a jolt of devastating electricity. The mermaid crashed to the ground in shock and quickly tried to regain control, backing away from the strange emotionless boy. A large blue circle appeared under Lloyd, the mana swirling around him in waves, ready to take the form of rushing water.

Sheena watched helplessly as water engulfed Lloyd, who took no pains to leave his spot. Zelos readied a First Aid. When the waters receded, he was dripping wet and bruised. But showed no reaction. But Zelos cast the healing spell on him anyway. Unfortunately, the underling took advantage of this split-second of freedom to blast him down with bubbles.

Adulocia was seriously weirded out by the boy now and decided casting Spread from far away was the way to go. Zelos quickly came from behind to interrupt her spell while she was casting it. He did his now favorite move of body-slamming the mermaid towards Lloyd, who quickly defended himself by stopping the mermaid with a jolting energy blast.

Sheena was now working on the other underling. The leaded bubbles they were blasting at her was making her feel sick and bruised and she could feel her energy waning. She called for backup and Zelos rolled into position to keep the underling busy while Sheena chewed an apple gel, relieving some of her wounds.

However, this left Adulocia free to cast Spread again at the creepy boy. Another blue circle formed under Lloyd.

Then without warning, the boy was hit from behind by something and knocked to the ground outside of the blue circle, right before the giant rush of water blew forcefully from the ground.

It was Kratos!

"KRATOS!" Sheena shouted in desperation. "BE CAREFUL, LLOYD'S NOT HIMSELF! HE'LL TOTALLY FIGHT YOU! GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

Too late, Lloyd had already grabbed onto his newest attacker's arms and a deadly charge lit up in his hands, shocking his victim.

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**Am I dragging? Getting too caught up in details? I can't tell! Do I need to speed it up? What do you think of the fight scene? Let me know! REVIEW!! THANKS EVERYONE! **


	23. Chapter 23: Of Water and Lies

**Sigh. This may not be the most brilliant chapter written... I was stuck for quite a while trying to figure out plot stuff and what happens to who and what happens next, and oh you know, everything that makes up something called a writer's block! Okay, folks who I said I was going to write a super long chapter, so sorry, but I really just wanted to post this chapter and quit staring at it! Let me know what you think!**

** Indeed, I do not own Tales of Symphonia.**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 23: Of Water and Lies

Zelos and Sheena were rooted to the ground, staring at the sight before them. Kratos had thrown his arms around Lloyd and turned to hit the ground on his back. However, just as he did that, Lloyd had gripped his hands on the arms holding him and sent a deadly charge, pushing himself away and unsheathing his sword.

Kratos stood up, visibly shaken and burnt on this arms. He stared bewilderedly at Lloyd's blank face, and his blood-red eyes. Without hesitation, Lloyd attacked, swinging his stolen Desian sword at his assailant.

But Kratos was a veteran and his reaction time was instant. He pulled up his own sword and blocked the swing. As he stood there, sword and mind frozen briefly in horror, staring at Lloyd's face, Adulocia struck instantly. She quickly blasted deadly bubbles at the both of them, making Kratos jump back on instinct. Lloyd took the blow but when the bubbles were finished, he simply just turned on his latest enemy and quick as lightning, he rushed at Adulocia, sword raised high and charged with a high voltage, cleaving her in the side.

There wasn't time to think, or ponder, or ask why. Kratos immediately shook himself out of his shock and started the spell of Thunder Blade against the mermaid, taking advantage of her incapacitation and frying her once and for all.

Minutes later, the battle was over. And the three creatures began to melt away back as water on the ground.

Kratos sheathed his sword.

"Explain." Kratos said immediately, his arms crossed, and his face barely masked the furious anger and anxiety he was keeping under the surface. The stare directed at Zelos and Sheena was so powerful that they rather felt a shiver go down their spine.

Sheena did her best to explain the situation, making sure to note that Zelos really was the one with the bright idea of forcing the Rheairds beyond their radius... And then what happened with Lloyd and how she was able to get a key crest on him, though it didn't seem to turn him back to normal. Only enough that he wasn't attacking everyone in sight, at least.

Zelos continued explaining that they came up with the plan of making a pact with Undine to somehow find a way back to Triet base... But ended up with fighting this seal instead of the real deal.

Kratos continued to stare at them, unpleasantly digesting the information. He had seen the devastation at Palmacosta Ranch when he went there to see what he could find. It was unnatural and horrific. Kratos already had a sinking suspicion that they might have tried to put an unmounted exsphere on Lloyd. Kratos honestly, had no idea what it could do, but now it was clear. It seems the exsphere had reacted to Lloyd's unique body unnaturally and rendered him in a sense... soulless. Without the mount, the exsphere's power was uncontrollable. With the mount, it could only stop enough of the exsphere's 'malfunction' to reduce him only to self-defense.

Sheena glanced at Zelos briefly, but he looked as ready to bolt as she felt. Kratos had been standing there silently pondering them for at least a minute--a very nervous minute for the two of them, mind you--before he spoke finally, but seemingly to himself.

"I cannot bring all of you back to Triet on my own wings alone, that is true. If you make a pact with Undine, Sheena, the most she may do for you is to ensure favorable conditions if you have a ship you can use to get back. She will not take care of the enemies for you unless you summon her every time, but I assume a few sea monsters should just be useful extra practice for you two.

"As for Lloyd... you said you have Magnius' key crest on him right now, which is keeping the chaos at bay. Magnius' key crest is by no means a weak crest, however, I think we may need something extra that we must find to fix the crest enough that would bring Lloyd back to himself. We will probably have to consult Dirk, the resident Dwarf on this subject. I only hope even he knows what we need..."

Kratos looked at Lloyd sadly. Lloyd just stood there blankly. It wasn't right. His Lloyd had always been so full of emotion... to see this shell of his son made Kratos feel extremely perturbed. Another thought occurred to him.

"How much magic has he been using since he became this way?" Kratos asked.

Zelos and Sheena thought for a minute. "He's been using a ton of magic. All this stuff I've never seen. Like electrocuting people, and just sending straight pure concentrated mana at stuff. I was wondering where he got all his infinite mana from, actually. I just figured maybe it was the special exsphere he has?"

"Is there something special about this exsphere?"

Sheena shook her head. "I wouldn't know... we were in jail at the time..."

Kratos went quiet again for a few seconds. He looked at Lloyd and dearly wanted to touch him, or hug him, or put a hand on his shoulder, or something!

He walked around to Lloyd's side and kneeled down to see the expshere embedded in Lloyd's hand. The color was an opalescent, swirling storm of bluish-purple.

"An unfinished Level 3 exsphere... But... why is it... swirling like that?"

By now Zelos and Sheena had crowded around Kratos, peering at the jewel in Lloyd's hand. They realized again, how little they knew about the jewels on their own hands. Zelos glanced at his own and back again at Lloyd's. Zelos' was a clear vermillion color. He looked at Sheena who was also looking at her own. Hers was a clear purple color. Now they leaned over and looked at Kratos', a deep blood-red color. What did this all mean?

Kratos was still contemplating Lloyd's exsphere silently. Lloyd himself was just standing there staring blankly at them, in case they tried to attack them.

"Lloyd."

Lloyd raised his head slightly, looking at Kratos.

Kratos got up excitedly, resisting the urge to put his hands on Lloyd's shoulders and shake him out of this state.

"Lloyd! Can you hear me?" He asked, desperately.

The expression on Lloyd's face didn't change.

"Lloyd!!!" Kratos was now yelling, his face twisted in anguish. "Say something! I'm your father!"

After many more minutes of yelling at his unresponsive son, Kratos sighed, and turned towards the two teenagers. He looked completely stoic again. "Sheena, this will be the first time you make a pact with a summon spirit, correct?"

Sheena nodded.

"Remember, she has already made a pact with person named Mithos before. But if he had broken his vow, then you must tell her to annul the pact and form a new one. Now, as far as Lloyd is concerned, if she attacks him, just be ready to heal him if he is in need of help. If I am in the midst of battle, you must be ready, Zelos."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Are you ready?"

Sheena nodded again, nervously. She walked towards the gently flowing fountain at the end of the room.

Suddenly a bright light shone above the fountain, fading into the shape of a beautiful blue lady that seemed almost to be made of water itself. Even the sword she held seemed to be made of water.

"You who possesses the right of the pact. I am one who is bound to Mithos. What is your name?"

Sheena took a deep breath. "I am Sheena! I seek a pact with Undine!"

"I am already bound by a pact. I cannot form two pacts at the same time."

Oh yeah... Sheena thought embarrassed, stupid me. She didn't want to look back at Kratos.

"I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me."

"Before I can allow the formation of a new pact, I must test your worthiness as a pact-maker. Draw your weapons."

Kratos was already ready on the side, getting ready to cast a Thunder Blade. Zelos and Sheena jumped in front to distract Undine, striking first with their weapons and finishing off respectively, with a sword thrust and a serpent seal.

Undine was not one to be delayed however, she blocked the sword thrust and cast an aqua edge without delay, blasting Zelos down to the floor, hitting his head hard against the stone floor. With her sword, she swiped at Sheena, who rolled out of the way in time to strike her with her cards again.

By now, Kratos was ready. A shadow fell upon the room like an ominous cloud as a giant sword of pure electricity fell upon Undine in a thunderous crash. Undine froze in the shock as the voltage coursed through her painfully. Instantly, Kratos was upon her with a lightning blade, thrusting his charged sword into her as another bolt of lighting struck her.

Undine doubled over in pain, giving Kratos a pained but approving look. Sheena suddenly struck from the side, her cards flying out, slicing where they hit. Then she called the cards back and they burst out, hitting Undine with a power seal.

The summon spirit now nodded at Sheena as she glided away quickly. She smiled and said, "Ready?"

No one really knew what she was so happy about, but a large blue circle appeared beneath all of them, and from past experience, they knew it wasn't a good thing. Sheena ran for Zelos who was suffering from a serious concussion, to help him up and bring him out of the circle. Kratos jumped out of the circle just in time, and already running straight for Undine, ready to unleash another lightning blade to interrupt the spell. But he was too late, and Sheena and Zelos couldn't quite get out in time as a rush of water exploded, bruising Sheena, Zelos, and... Lloyd, who was standing blankly in the far edge of the circle and didn't move at all.

Kratos glanced over at Lloyd, who suddenly came to life in a violent force of retaliation. Kratos stopped running, the charge in his sword disappearing. A large ball of charged mana instantly formed in Lloyd's hands and burst towards Undine, who didn't expect it, since she hardly noticed the motionless boy in the back. Undine was hurled against the wall with the force of the blast that sent a throbbing voltage throughout her being. In a flash, his sword was out, and he hurled himself towards Undine, who was still stunned from the shock. Within moments Lloyd seemed to be dancing a merciless dance of electricity and maddening slashes around Undine.

By now, Kratos was done sending a healing stream towards Zelos and Sheena. All three stood in shock, staring at Lloyd. He was so ruthless, Sheena took a step forward, wanting to save Undine.

But suddenly a bright light burst from Undine, blowing Lloyd back, incased in a bubble of some sort. He seemed to have suddenly gone harmless again, standing suspended in the bubble.

"Pact-maker," Undine declared, breathing laboriously as she held her hand up, keeping Lloyd afloat in the bubble. She looked absolutely terrible, and would be worse if she had blood. However, she was a spirit, and they could see the wounds healing themselves, like water filling in a crack. "You and your companions have proven yourselves well in battle."

Slowly, she let the bubble descend to the ground far away from her and behind the three humans. Soon the bubble disappeared and Lloyd stood there once again, blankly looking in front of him.

"This boy... his mana is dangerously out of control and unstable."

Kratos stepped forward. "Undine, I beg that if you know any way to save him... tell us."

Undine looked at Kratos and recognition flashed across her face. This man fought her more than four thousand years ago! She decided she didn't want to know. So she took a deep breath, reading the mana currents in the air. To a spirit, they told them everything they needed to know. And she could tell that the boy was the man's son. "The battle rages within him. Between him and the souls of the gem, who have taken over him. Either he wins this battle himself, or you will need a fragment of solid pure mana to augment the inhibitor."

Zelos looked at Kratos confusedly, but the old man looked extremely unhappy for some reason.

Undine now looked at Sheena. "Now, swear your vow. Upon what vow do you form our pact?"

Sheena felt like she could sweat a lake, she was completely blank. Then after a deep breath, she remembered the whole reason Yuan took her under his wing to tutor. "People suffer endlessly from discrimination and hate. I vow to right these worlds and lessen the suffering of all."

Undine nodded. "Understood. I pledge my power to you, Sheena!"

At once, Undine seemed to melt upwards into the air into a ball of shining water. Sheena walked forward, holding out her hands and absorbing the power into her. Instantly she felt a heightened sensation of the water around her. It was a strange feeling that she vaguely remembered from her childhood. In her hands, formed a gem of Aquamarine.

_This gem will keep you safe at sea..._ Undine's voice whispered in Sheena' head. "Thank you Undine, we may have to ask for your assistance to speed our journey as well!"

Kratos was deep in unpleasant thought. He has to go back to Derris-Kharlan to get a mana fragment. The last place he wants to go back to. It took weeks to get down the idiotic storage pipeline, and now he'd have to go back up?

Sheena walked over and looked at him. "Um, Kratos? So what did she mean by a fragment of solid mana?"

Kratos shook his head in frustration. "A mana fragment... is not an easy item to find. However, let us return to Triet and ask the advice of the Dwarf as well. First, we must ask the Thoda locals for whatever boat they have."

"Washtub?" Zelos asked, grinning.

"No, no, they should have at least a normal boat here..."

Without another word, he walked towards the door, not looking at Lloyd as he passed him. Zelos and Sheena looked at each other quizzically but quickly followed. Sheena looked back and saw Lloyd following them wordlessly. Again, she was grateful that even in his deadpan state, he would willingly follow them.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Raine and Anna had now been in Yuan's office for hours, looking at the ancient books he had there. Raine was completely overwhelmed by the age of the books, she had never seen books this old! She had immediately snatched the oldest book off the shelf titled "Ancient Civilizations of the Toize Valley".

Anna had perused the whole shelf, taking every book off and looking at them. Finally she found herself stuck in a book on Summon Spirits, and sat reading that for a couple hours. After that, she discovered a double layer of books at the bottom shelf. Curious, she took out the front books and found a interesting tattered book hidden in the back about ways to cure incurable diseases. The room was completely silent, both intent in the book they were reading.

"Raine, look at this! I found something on paralysis and a way to cure it!"

Raine looked over curiously. Suddenly her eyes went wide and in a flash, the book was out of Anna's hands.

"OH MARTEL! It's the lost book! Boltzman's Book of Cures for the Incurable! Why does Yuan have it?? How could he not know to look at it for your sake?? Oh Martel, I can't believe it! It's been lost for thousands of years and he had it all along???"

Anna hadn't had the time to actually look at the cure for paralysis, so she felt rather impatient. "So... what does it say about curing paralysis?"

Raine was in the middle of a dance before she finally calmed down and put the book down for both of them to look at it.

"Unicorn Horn seems required for most of the cures... where can we find a unicorn?? It seems only through the Unicorn Horn can you learn the sacred spell of Resurrection. Resurrection... oh amazing, it calls on the healing power of the mana particles in the body to recreate and realign themselves in any way you want! And then the extra ingredients or different spell codes help in aligning and recreating the particles to the way you want them to be... And he has written the spell code to heal paralysis in all areas. The only extra ingredient we need is a large... mint leaf. Amazing! Absolutely amazing! I can't believe this!!!!"

"Does he say where we can find a unicorn?"

Raine flipped through the book beginning to end, finally after flipping through the first few chapters again something caught her eye. "Hmm, it seems when a unicorn dies, another is born in a different lake. Well, how many lakes do we have in Sylvarant, goodness. Well, I only ever know about the famous Lake Umacy. But that's all the way on a different continent and the Rheairds can't fly that far."

Raine looked a bit crestfallen and was back gazing at the shelf of books. Anna only smiled. "It's just good to know that there really is a way to get better." She was about to say that Kratos and Yuan could probably fly over and take a look, but she stopped herself, forgetting whether Raine even knew they could fly.

"Well, I'm going to take this book and go back and get some rest."

_xxxxxxx Many Days Later xxxxxx_

Genis constantly plagued Raine's mind, every second, every minute. Especially when she woke up every morning, and Genis wasn't in the bed next to her. But she was a pragmatist and took care to keep her anxiety at bay when she had no clues to his whereabouts. The fact that neither Yuan nor Kratos had returned was also eating them up from the inside.

So to clear their minds, Anna and Raine had taken to sneaking into Yuan's study every chance they got to look at what other books and stuff they had. The Renegade soldiers who saw them sneaking in, actually didn't really care and thought it was funny.

Raine was feeling much better and Colette was almost fully recovered. However, she really showed no interest in Yuan's private library and took to the regular library instead to pass her time and do whatever homework Raine was still able to think up for her.

Even though Raine felt like a kid she herself would put in detention, she really liked being in Yuan's study. There was something about the strange old-style rococo decor that made Raine feel like she was in a different world. She went by Yuan's desk, touching the varnished mahogany wood. This time, Anna was at her usual check-up with Nevil the medic, so she came to library herself. She felt a little bolder than usual and finally got herself to start opening drawers. And underneath papers and random junk, she found something stuck deep in the bottom of the bottom drawer. It looked like a journal. Finding a comfortable armchair in the corner, she made herself comfortable and opened the first page. After a while, she moved to her own room.

Hours later, Anna went by Raine's room to see if she was there. After an unresponsive knock, she opened the door and found a completely ashen Raine in bed with eyes that seemed permanently stuck in shock mode.

"Raine...are you okay?"

"Anna, everything is a lie!"

Anna stayed silent, wondering what happened. Then she noticed the book in Raine's hands.

"Martel is no Goddess... a-and Kratos... Yuan... Mithos... they're... they're over four thousand years old!"

"What are you reading?" Anna asked, bewildered.

"I, uh, found Yuan's journal in his desk..."

Anna resisted a hand-smack to her forehead.

Raine stuck a finger at the page she was at as a bookmark and flipped to the first page of the book. "Yuan wrote this! This is his writing! He wrote this almost forty years ago! And he only looks like he's in his twenties! So Mithos, that was the hero Mithos! That boy, what in the world... and he still looked about fourteen years old! And Martel... she _is_ Mithos' sister... and she was going to be Yuan's fiancee..."

Now Anna was surprised. "Fiancee?" Kratos never said anything about that.

"His writing is hard to read. He seemed to just be writing whatever he was thinking at the time. It's kind of a challenge to piece together what is going on... It seems that Yuan and Kratos had been friends since they were children, but he didn't elaborate. They found Martel and Mithos somewhere, he forgot where... and they traveled together... He then discovered that Mithos had the ability to make pacts with Summon Spirits so they went and found them all, hoping that would make them powerful enough to force the kingdoms of the Kharlan War to come to a peaceful end."

Anna nodded and urged her to go on. Raine didn't seem to need much urging however, she already seemed like she was in some sort of trance.

"They were able to do that--end the Kharlan War... then they learned of the King of the Summon Spirits through lore and sought to find him. At the same time as they went through lore, they discovered Holy Crystals, which they wanted to find really bad... And find them they did... that is why they are still alive... and as unchanged as they were four thousand years ago... However, it was without consequences as they lost their ability to reason... it wasn't until he found Botta, a former Desian being beaten to death, that he suddenly regained control of himself. Oh but then he finally mentions that Martel was killed soon after they found the Crystals. By an arrow from a human soldier. Mithos lost control of himself and seemed to be split into two personalities. The new Mithos mistook Martel's last wish and now wants to create a world where everyone can be lifeless angels, goodness... And both he and Kratos were helpless to do anything about it because the Crystals had robbed them of their soul and their ability to have an opinion... When he finally awoke, he was still able to remember what he was doing for the last few thousand years, but he only could really remember the year being about about 370 something... and now he rambles about how he can't find the engagement ring he was going to give Martel..."

Raine went silent for a bit and shook her head.

"Anna, he mentions that they used the Elves' original home planet, Derris-Kharlan, as their new home for the city of angels. This may be where Mithos has taken Genis!"

There was another knock on the door. Anna went to go answer it.

It was Yuan.

Raine quickly hid the journal under the covers.

"Hey!" Yuan called looking worried, still dusty from his travels. "I just got back! And Botta briefed me immediately about Genis so I came strai--why are you looking so, um, shocked and guilty looking?"

* * *

**Yes, Yuan popped out like a bunny out of a hat! But I really wanted to get him out! Maybe in future revisions I'll find a way to make it smoother. If you have tips and comments, let me know!! So... REVIEW! Thanks so much everyone! **


	24. Chapter 24: The Heart of an Exsphere

**Aargh writer's block! THAT and reading more about ToS: Knight of Ratatosk.**** Lloyd is not evil! Lloyd is not Mithos!!! Argh. Okay, take a deep breath.** **Conclusion: Until the game comes out and I can read some synopsis... no no no, I will just purge everything about that game out of my mind. Too depressing.**

**Anywaaaaay, yes I had a tough time with part of this chapter... I hope I pulled it off alright, so LET ME KNOW HOW I DID!**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia, and I'm not sure I would even want to own its sequel.**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 24: The Heart of an Exsphere

Yuan stood at the door to Raine's temporary room, staring at her in complete confusion. But after a second, he started laughing hysterically, holding the door frame as he cracked himself up.

After giving the journal a final push deep under the covers, Raine was now staring at Yuan indignantly. Anna was completely confounded, looking at Yuan.

"Why are you laughing so hard!" Raine demanded as she jumped out of bed and stomped in front of Yuan, who was still holding his chest and doubling over in a wheezy laugh.

Yuan finally got himself halfway together and leaned against the door frame. "I didn't think I'd ever see _you_ looking so guilty and shocked. Okay, shocked, I can understand, but you look like you were gonna be punished like a schoolgirl! Man, what'd you do! Hahahahah!!!" And then he cracked up again.

Finally, Raine gave him a kick, as Raine would usually do to errant school kids. Yuan was knocked to the floor, but still laughing away.

Yuan tried to clear his throat and end the fit of laughter. "Right, so what horrible things were you doing while I was away??"

Raine's indignant look quickly faded. "Oh well, we... we were doing research... on where Genis may be..."

Yuan collected himself off the ground, dusting off whatever dirt that didn't already get forcefully ejected from his clothes. He looked serious again.

"How long has it been since you came here?"

"About... a week or so?"

"If Yggdrassil had awoken and taken Genis, he would have taken him back to Cruxis. We do need to act quickly, I hope he hasn't done anything to Genis..."

Raine gave him an innocently confused look, even though she knew now what Cruxis was. "Cruxis?"

"Ah, it's the horrible organization Kratos and I used to work at, and Yggdrassil is head of it."

"So where is it?"

Yuan shifted a little uneasily. "It's hidden. And hard to get to now that warp systems have been disabled... but I'll think of a way."

He brushed some more dirt off his clothes.

Anna noticed the tension in the air and interrupted with the question she'd been dying to ask anyway. "By the way, is Kratos back as well? And Lloyd?"

Yuan turned to her and sighed. He explained the situation they found when they got to Palmacosta and how they were split up. And that now he had only just gotten back with a bunch of Desians from the destroyed Palmacosta ranch. Anna looked at him strangely. "You brought back Desians? Why?"

"They're the best people to recruit! A lot of half-elves really don't want to work at the Ranches, but they had no alternatives. Don't worry, I've weeded out the hardcore human-haters already. And I've totally won over the ones we have. We just about added fifty strong to the Renegades!" Yuan said proudly.

Raine stood there, grinning sardonically. "Well now, good job Yuan!"

"Thanks!"

"So do you need to go freshen up or anything? I mean you only just got back..." Raine asked meaningfully.

"Yeah, I'm going to go back to my room for a cleanup and whatever, then we'll talk more about Genis over dinner."

Raine nodded, smiling. As Yuan turned to go, Raine scooted over to Anna and whispered something. Anna shook her head, chuckling, as she wheeled after Yuan.

Raine quickly went back, got the journal and shoved it under the many layers of her clothing--in some hidden pocket somewhere--then followed Anna out.

But, Anna really did have something she wanted to ask Yuan about and caught up with him as he went to his quarters.

"Yuan, you said there was a stampede of people from the Ranch... but did you ever figure out what happened?"

Yuan sighed heavily. He had asked all the Desians he could for details, and whatever he was able to piece together did not sound good... and he really didn't want to tell Anna that her son could be crazy.

"Yeeeah... I asked all I could of the Desians that followed me. They said there was a very powerful explosion... even Magnius, one of the Cardinals was killed immediately. There were explosions everywhere, and a couple of them saw the person who was casting the powerful spells."

Anna waited as Yuan paused. Finally she just sighed and said what she feared. "What happened to Lloyd?"

Yuan whipped his head around in surprise. "Look, I'm sorry, Anna. I don't really know what happened. It seems they had captured Lloyd, Zelos, and Sheena. Zelos and Sheena were then herded over to the jail cells without much incident, but..."

"They put an exsphere on him, didn't they? Because he doesn't have one..."

"Yeah... it seemed to have reacted... completely differently. It made him immensely powerful but... they said he had these red eyes... I think the exsphere must have taken him over... But Anna, I'm sure we'll figure out something and get him back to normal. I bet it's a matter of finding the right crest. Kratos is searching for him now. I'm sure he's found him already."

Anna nodded sadly. "Thanks, Yuan."

She noticed they had past Yuan's study already, so after following him a bit more until he went to his rooms, and she turned around.

As she passed by the study, she saw Raine frantically doing something behind Yuan's desk. Finally, she stood up, gave Anna a thumbs up and ran to Anna, closing the door behind her.

Quickly, they made their way back to their own rooms, one in total relief, the other in complete anxiety.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

After Yuan had cleaned himself up and changed into fresh clothing (same style and color, of course), he went to his study.

Things seemed a bit different than he remembered. He wasn't sure how it was different, there was something different. He looked at the chairs and desk which seemed to all be in the same place. He looked at the bookshelf. It seemed undisturbed...

Yuan shrugged and went to his desk. People don't naturally pay attention to the mess on their desk and what order their mess was in, but sometimes, if the mess is just a bit different... So yes, Yuan had a feeling someone had been messing with his desk. He opened all the top drawers and found most items undisturbed. He checked the bottom right drawer and went through the junk he had in there... and found his journal.

He did remember distinctly, however, that he buried his journal in the left drawer.

Yuan flopped down in his chair and sighed, tossing his journal on the desk. Raine's guilty look flashed through his mind.

He shook his head and frowned. Raine said they were doing research on where Genis may be. Anna knows about Cruxis, but would she have thought of it? She never had much interest in the books in his office before, but maybe they ran out of books to read in the regular library?? So those two probably snuck into his study for more reading material. But to dig that far into his desk to find extra reading material... it seemed just a little too intrusive...

But if Raine did read his journal... she must know everything now.

He stared blankly at his bookcase against the wall. He really didn't even know what he had there anymore. Most were books from a box he kept of old books that he and the old crew had found on their journeys. Some were Martel's own books... that he would never look at again.

Speaking of which... the books did look a little messed with.

"Alright, time to get some answers," Yuan pushed himself out of the chair and walked towards Raine's room, journal in hand.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Loneliness... Sadness...

It had been so sudden, he remembered the pain, and the sudden whiteout as if he was being sucked in through something and then... nothing. Only a feeling, an existence, a consciousness without a body.

When he was first sucked in, we was overwhelmed by a crushing storm of emotions.

Anger, resentment, hate. Jealousy, misery, the hunger for vengeance.

He was just an existence in a furious storm of colors. Colors he could not see, but somehow feel. Colors of blood and vengeance. Colors of anger and fear. There was also a color of sorrow and mournfulness. And overwhelming loneliness.

Feeling was all he had, a consciousness of himself and the sense of the swirling madness around him. He was lost, lost in the colors of powerful emotions.

In a flash, things seemed to go quiet. All that was left was overpowering sadness and loneliness.

It was silent, but could he actually hear? It felt silent. Lonely. Sad. Confused. Then he realized that the colors he felt...were other beings. Loneliness, however, was a pervasive atmosphere.

Sadness drifted over to him. Sadness felt incomplete.

_Are you a new soul? _

It was a vibration, a sensation that reminded him of dried leaves in autumn. An aged, feminine feeling of sorrow and lamentation.

_I don't know. Where am I?_

He felt he was speaking, but he wasn't. It was purely just a communication of vibrations and color.

_From what the other souls told me, we now only exist as our soul in the gem they must have tried to put on you._

_Where did the other souls go?_

Lloyd felt a constriction, like the air was taking a giant sigh. The color of loneliness spoke in slow, desolate waves.

_They left... They left me..._

_What happened?_

_This has never happened before... who are you? I felt another soul and I took root to see if I could have another friend... but now I lost those other two... and you came in as a whole soul. You are different. You lack the anger and misery of the other souls. Why?_

Sadness spoke. _You must be the new victim they put the gem on. Though, usually, our souls slowly get sucked in here by...this vacuum of loneliness... and then our bodies die. _

Time passed.

Lloyd didn't know how long he had been just existing there, but it felt like a really long time... especially with the oppressing loneliness and sadness that surrounded him.

Then all at once, a storm seemed to have thrown everything back into mayhem and the colors of vengeance and anger could be felt again.

They screamed in anger and frustration, waves of nerve-wracking high intensity.

_What happened? _Lloyd asked, timidly. A wave of anger washed around him.

_Someone put a key crest on! Such opportunity and freedom--lost!_

Lloyd was confused. But then he realized what it meant and felt rather angry. They must've taken control of his body!

_What were you doing?_

Vengeance spoke angrily. _We demolished that ranch with your power. You've got such strength and power! And you were captured by those Desians??_

Lloyd didn't feel like answering that question. _Who's controlling my body now?_

There was a moment of silence and curiosity.

_I think you're on autopilot. With that key crest on, we can only watch and react when your body reacts to danger._

_Is there any way I can get back to my own body? _Lloyd asked, annoyed.

_You could've gone and destroyed that ranch yourself, and you let yourself be captured by Desians. You're a weakling. It'd be a waste for you to get that body again._

_What...__  
_

Anger finally spoke. _We don't even know how that wormhole appeared, we were lucky to have that opportunity..._

_Oh so, if you could have control of my body again, what would you do? Kill everyone?   
_

_We would seek and raid the Human Ranches, killing every Desian we find._

Lloyd thought for a minute. _I'm no fan of the Human Ranches either. It's on my list of goals to take out all those human ranches. Afterall, my mother was in one..._

The storms of Vengeance and Anger seemed to fade somewhat at the mention of his mother's similar woes.

_Why are you so powerful? Are you not human?_

_Um, I uh, fundamentally am. Dad had a Cruxis Crystal and stuff, so I inherited a bunch of stuff. Just who are you two anyway?_

Anger spoke. _I have existed for thousands of years. A long time ago, there were civilizations that discovered exspheres for machine use. Well, it was during that time that humans didn't know that we couldn't put an exsphere on ourselves without some key crest... and I was sucked in. Then for eons we were stuck in some dirt pile... and then the Desians found us. _

_I was a slave in the Palmacosta Ranch years and years ago. _Vengeance still spoke in a grating tone.

Lloyd thought for a while. _Look, I'm only like fifteen years old or whatever. How about if I can get my body back, you guys can help me, and we can destroy those Ranches together? Cause I'm sure I still know more about my own body than you do! I bet you didn't know I had wings did you!_

_Hmm._

_Ohh._

_Really, so you are an angel?? _Sadness asked.

_Um, yeah._

Anger spoke to Vengeance._ We can help realize our dream through this boy. When we had control of his body, we couldn't really fully control it ourselves._

_So, do you guys have names?_

Another moment of confused silence.

Sadness spoke nostalgically. _I remember my name. My name is Marble._

_I don't remember my name. Sangna or something. _Anger said.

Vengeance was still quiet. _Bob, yeah._

The air vibrated solemnly. _I have no name. _

Sangna seemed restless. _Yes you have no name because you are the exsphere itself. A soulless, selfish, lifeless object that just craves of life of living beings! All these thousands of years of being stuck with you alone... I could never die... never go on... And you're still not happy, right? You will never be happy! You've taken in three other people's souls now, are you any happier??_

There was a uncomfortable vibration in the air.

_I thought you were unhappy... that's why I wanted you to join me... so we might be happy..._

Lloyd sighed (metaphorically). _Okay, is there a way for me to go back to my body? Because I have no idea what is going on out there._

_Oh, we can see what is happening._

Suddenly it seemed the clouds around him seemed to thin otu and he could feel other people around him. He recognized the mana signature of Zelos, Sheena... and his dad!

_Dad!!! No, I must get out of here! I bet he's so upset! Let me out! Tell me there's a way for me to get back to my own damn body!_

The air seemed to freeze in a sense of bitter loneliness and rejection.

Lloyd quickly calmed himself down. _Everyone, my dad's whole life purpose is to destroy the evil organization that causes the human ranches and stuff. If anything, he will make your dreams come true. Exsphere, or Loner or whatever--since I can't think of a name for you-- it's because you took all these souls from their own bodies, that they are so bitter. Their souls can't move on either. I think if everyone can help me work together to bring down the Ranches and the evil organization, we'll have a purpose and everyone will be happier. I'll do my best to see what I can do to move you guys on... I'm not rejecting or trying to run away from any of you. I just want to help all of you!_

After a few minutes, Marble spoke uncertainly. _Please, I just want to be reunited with the rest of my soul in my body... And... if I could see my daughter and granddaughter one more time... they are in Palmacosta, please..._

_Of course!_

The atmosphere seemed more relaxed and but anxious. _You will leave me?_

_No, we can still be connected right? _

_I don't know, I have never had to do anything like this._

Lloyd thought hard for a moment. He remembered what his mom told him one day at the Triet base... of what really happened to her in the ranch.

_My mom, she was in the Asgard Ranch as a host body. Most of her soul got sucked in to the Cruxis Crystal they were making before they put the right key crest on her... so maybe if my soul is in here--meaning, I'm not leaving you, Loner-- I can still have control of my body?_

_So... you don't reject me?_

_NO! In fact, I ask for your help--all you guys' help, is that okay?_

_Y-yeah, okay..._

For the first time, the tension in the air relaxed. Instead of the storms of hate (there was still vengeance and anger at the Desians, and sadness for all that's happened) but at least, there was hope in the air as well. And a bit of happiness. The exsphere felt very warm and fuzzy. It never felt like this ever. It liked it.

Not long after, it felt another new emotion--confidence. And it was a very powerful feeling.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxBAM!xxxxxxxxxxx_

A sudden flash of white light...

And he was staring right into the worried face of Kratos, partially lit by the light of a campfire.

Kratos jumped back in shock as Lloyd's eyes suddenly turned brown and full of life.

"LLOYD!"

Lloyd moved his arms and jumped around a bit. He's got his body back! He was grinning like the happiest idiot in the world.

"Dad!" Lloyd jumped on Kratos and nearly took him down with a giant hug.

Sheena and Zelos ran over. After Lloyd let go of his dad, Sheena immediately tackled him with a hug of her own.

"LLOYD YOU'RE BACK!" Zelos finally pried her off Lloyd and gave him a slap on the back.

"What's going on? What happened?" Lloyd asked.

Zelos sniggered. "Oh you only just blew up the whole Palmacosta Ranch, beat your dad up when he tried to save you from some attack... and let's see, you also pulverized the summon spirit of Water! But it was okay, Sheena still got her water powers. And... yeah that's what has happened."

"WHAT?"

After getting cozy around the fire, they finally told Lloyd what happened in detail. Lloyd told them of his strange experience in the exsphere.

"That's really, um, psycho, Lloyd, but I'm glad you got back..." Zelos said, with a look that clearly questioned Lloyd's sanity.

"So exspheres... have human souls in them?" Sheena said as she stared at her own in slight disgust.

"Yes, they do... it's what makes them so powerful. The more souls that an exsphere devours... the more powerful it becomes." Kratos said simply.

"Dad, you knew that?? But that's so awful!"

"Yes it is awful..."

"I just want to take it off! How sick!" Sheena cried.

"Be mindful that without the powerful of the Crystals or Exspheres, we cannot accomplish our goal of changing these worlds for the better. The world was rent with power of supernatural capability. Without the help of the exspheres, we cannot fight back. Think of it as enlisting their help in a worthy battle."

"Yeah, but I wonder if they even know..." Zelos said with a doubtful look. "That's a lot of hate to be carrying around, ya know... Ugh."

_If you tell them to be still and focus on their exspheres... I'm sure they will be able to connect a little bit..._ Lloyd snapped his head up. It was the voice of his exsphere!

"Hey um, my exsphere just told that uh, if you meditate and focus on your exspheres, you can possibly communicate with them..."

Sheena and Zelos stared at Lloyd. Kratos merely just kept staring at the fire, like he knew that already.

"You know, make peace with them or something. They might get even more powerful if they're happy, you never know."

"Huh." Zelos replied, glancing at the fiery glow his exsphere took on from the light of the fire.

Sheena was still staring at her exsphere. "Hey, does this mean that our souls are in the exsphere too??"

Kratos straightened himself up. "I don't believe so. You were handed your exspheres within the key crest. The exsphere should not have been able to take in any of your soul."

Marble's voice cut into Lloyd's head faintly. _My granddaughter..._

"Oh right, where are we anyway?" Lloyd asked looking around.

"We're almost at Triet Desert. So we should reach the base tomorrow."

"Oh..."

_Sorry,_ Lloyd thought,_ but I swear we'll see your daughter and granddaughter one day._

_No, I am most grateful, already._

* * *

_ **WHAT?? NOT A CLIFFIE?? **_**That's right, I spared you a cliffie this time! REVIEW! Thanks to everyone who's been adding me onto their favorites/alerts lists! It makes me feel so warm and fuzzy!!! Now if all of you reviewed... ooooh I'd be bursting with snacky happiness (yes, I took that from Mario Galaxy.) **


	25. Chapter 25: For the Love of Genis

**Ah yes, long awaited, long in coming... plenty of personal drama and working life later... much hair was torn out for this chapter, but I think I finally got it down! Many thanks to Silver and White Angels on reminding me of my duties as a teacher of English and beta-ing this chapter! No, I will still yell at the kids for starting with And and But, however! I call this literary freedom and if William Faulkner could get away with writing Sound and the Fury (oh how I hated that book.), then I think I'm okay! P However, many Ands and Buts were still sacrificed for the betterment of the English language. ;)  
**

**Enjoy! **

**Yeah, still don't own Tales of Symphonia. Sheeucks.**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 25: For the Love of Genis

"... AND???"

"AND as an extremely concerned sister and dedicated researcher, it is not intelligent to leave any stone unturned!"

"It's private property!"

"If it was so private, then you could have thrown some elementary locking spell on it! The fact that you, a magic-user, is fully capable of this kind of spell and did not use it, concludes the journal as an invitation for anyone to read!"

Yuan felt like tearing his hair out and yelling back, but the stupid reasons Raine kept throwing at him did have a ring of truth he couldn't entirely dispute... even if they were totally unreasonable in a moral way.

"It's called ethical law! Social reasoning! You don't read people's journals without their consent! Especially if it's buried at the bottom of a desk!"

"Ethical law! Find me a book on ethical law! I happen to possess a book on ethics and it says nothing about journals becoming private, non-trespassable property once buried under some certain number of inches of material!"

"Gah! Absurd! You're totally insane, woman! What happened to morals!? Common sense!"

Raine smiled a very satisfied smile. Nothing can dispute reason. "Nothing can be changed now anyway, it would just be a waste of time to keep arguing about it."

Yuan gave her a look of absolute disdain, which she saw as a very pouty frown. Conclusion: she wins the argument.

However, Yuan's look of disdain didn't last long before it was replaced with a smug smile.

"Okay, explain to me why you would try to hide the journal back under all the junk in the drawer."

Raine couldn't immediately retort but she had an answer. "It is always good policy to return things to their original location."

"Hah!" Yuan stamped the floor and pointed the journal at Raine. "Original it wasn't! It was in the _right_ drawer, and I know distinctly that I buried it in the _left_ drawer!"

Raine rolled her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry."

They stared at each for a few more seconds.

"You--"

"So--"

Raine gestured for Yuan to go on.

"Fine, you know everything now. Any more questions?"

"What's your last name?"

"What?" Yuan stared at her. Of all questions... honestly...

"You never mention your last name! And you only ever sign everything with just Yuan!"

"Why does that bother you so much?"

"Everyone has a last name! What is it?"

"Yuan."

Raine rolled her eyes. "Seriously."

"I am serious. It's Yuan Yuan. So I just write Yuan."

"It's the same as your first name?"

"I dunno, that's what it is. I think you say it a bit differently or something, but I forget."

Raine was completely starry-eyed. "Oh! I read about the ancient civilizations of the Toize Valley! I think it was the Han--"

A frantic knocking on the door made Raine jump.

Yuan opened the door, revealing a rather surprised and blushing Colette.

"S-sorry! Oh, everyone was looking for you, Mr. Yuan! Mrs. Irving told me to tell Raine teacher that Kratos and Lloyd and two others are back. She's already gone to meet them at the front--"

Without another word, Raine and Yuan dashed out of the room with Colette following behind, scratching her head as to why Raine teacher looked so red when the door opened.

When they reached the dusty group of travelers, they saw that Anna had completely wrapped herself around Lloyd's waist and wasn't about to let go anytime soon.

"Raine teacher! Colette!!!" Lloyd shouted in surprise. "What are you guys doing here? Where's Genis??"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

White.

Cold white light.

Except the bars... the bars were a cold, gray, metal.

Seconds, minutes, hours, days... possibly weeks. Genis didn't know. He lay in the back of the white cell, staring at the bars and the strange ambient white light that shone through the bars. He had tried to conjure up some small spells, but the mana in the cell seemed frozen and unable to be manipulated.

There was nothing to do but think.

Days... it must be days... or possibly many hours...

He felt so light-headed. It was like a headache, but not quite. His tongue felt like solidified sand. When Genis and Raine traveled from town to town, searching for food, rest, and community... thirst and hunger was a constant companion. However, the hunger pains... they usually start two to three days when they couldn't find food to eat... and resorted to eating grass. Thirst... at least they might find puddles of water.

There was no grass to eat here. Nor puddles of water. There was nothing... but smooth white walls. Maybe they were a bit purplish in color actually... about a ten percent grayish purple.

Genis cringed as another attack of hunger struck. The pain from the last one hadn't even left yet.

He slowly closed his eyes, thinking again of the incomprehensible situation he was in.

Hours ago, no possibly days ago... Mithos tried to kill him. No, not Mithos. Not Mithos... Mithos saved him. Mithos stopped his own possessed body from killing him. He could feel that Mithos was still there, even if that other personality had suddenly come to life. What did Yuan call that other personality again? Yig? What did the strange angels that he saw say when they saw him? Yggdrassil. Lord Yggdrassil. The leader of... what did he say, the leader of the angels of Cruxis. Cruxis? Cruxis was the name of heaven, where angels reside, and where the Chosen goes if he or she is successful. Is this Cruxis?

When they suddenly reappeared in this strange place... this strange lifeless place... Cruxis... it definitely seemed a far cry from the heaven he was taught. He remembered being in awe of the angels floating all around him. Seconds later, he was thrown to the floor and ordered to be taken to a cell. Two of the angels floated down, merely nodded and took him by the arms. Why did they look so lifeless? Robotic? They were half-elves, he could sense that. All of them. It wasn't a very strong signature, but it was still there.

Genis shook his head weakly against the hard ground. He had been thinking in circles, thinking these same thoughts over and over again. Questions that he had no answers to. Questions he was too weak to try to reason anymore. He had slept for a bit. But then the hunger pangs came. Then they became never-ending pain. He could not sleep anymore...

"Genis!"

It took a while for it to register through his ears and into his brain that it wasn't some delusional sound.

His eyes flashed open. He saw a strange blonde woman with piercing blue eyes on the other side of the bars. Wait, it was a man.

"Genis! I'm Mithos! Here! I tried to find some food and water for you, but all I could find were apple gels and stuff! I bought a bunch, here hurry and take them! It's better than nothing! I have to go, I'm sorry, but I might revert back any moment..."

"Mithos? Why do you look like that..." Genis crawled to the bars. Mithos quickly gripped his hand tightly, shaking his head at his friend's sunken eyes and wasted look.

"I don't know, when I suddenly snapped back, I found myself like this. I think I can actually change back to my normal self, but I still need to figure that out. I'll try to find a way to get you out... but the last few times, I found myself reverting after only a few minutes... but I think each time I'm getting better. This time I think I can hold out a good ten minutes... This is the first time I dared to come see you after I figured out the layout of this place and where you were. I have to leave... Genis, hurry and eat the gels! Eat!"

After a final squeeze of Genis' hand, Mithos let it go and rushed away.

Genis looked at the pile of boxes that were thrown through the bars. Within seconds, he quickly ripped a box open and dumped as many gels as he could in his mouth, barely chewing before swallowing them. Instantly he felt his heavy, weak limbs course with newfound energy. With what must've been after two more boxes, the headache also went away. It was like the fog was clearing in his head. However, even after many more, he still felt a bit hungry. And thirsty. But, he finally felt alive, and the constant pain in his stomach was gone.

Mithos... he came back, he's still there! There's still hope! Genis looked at the pile of ripped boxes on the ground and quickly crumpled them up and tried to hide them in his pockets. Just in case there were routine checks.

And routine checks there started to be. Hours or days passed, Genis couldn't tell. The first time an angel appeared, he had a sword in hand. If that wasn't alarming enough, he opened the gates of the cell and looked ready to kill. A split second later, Mithos appeared and called him off. He apologized profusely about the assassination attempt and then apologized that he didn't bring any gels.

"That other me, I can keep him from killing you personally, but thankfully I reverted back just in time to realize he had ordered someone else to kill you. He tried to do it before, but usually I had enough strength to keep the body from opening its mouth right when he's about to give the order."

"Wow, so you know what he's thinking and planning?"

"No... not exactly. It's only when he thinks of you--and it's never in a good way--that I suddenly gain a bit of strength physically. I messed up this time, so I'm so sorry! I think I'm getting the hang of ordering some angels around. It's great how they don't seem to have an opinion or think it's weird that the same person is telling them to do something opposite... Oh! I figured out that there's a warp pad system to the planets! It was locked, but I told them to turn it on. I think I can get you out soon! Okay, Genis, I'll try to get some food for you if I still have time...!"

And come back he did, with ten more boxes of various gels. Mithos, however, was clearly agitated and nervous.

"Eat!"

He quickly sprinted off.

Then after that, angels would appear every however many hours and just look at him for a few minutes, before going away. Those were the most creepy, and Genis could not figure out why they were doing that. He hated it when he felt a presence and having his heart jump with hope, only to find an emotionless angel.

Endless hours passed again...

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Nothing was going right.

Not only were Yuan and Kratos somehow missing (in fact, they hadn't been seen for _weeks)_, he couldn't kill a stupid little boy. So the two former friends have finally truly turned against him. He never did trust them anyway.

Yggdrasill paced the dark spiraling staircase in his castle, brooding. He was still strong enough to be in control...as long as he did not revive the idea of killing Genis. Whenever he called a servant in to tell _him_ to kill Genis, his mouth suddenly wouldn't open, and he'd just have to dismiss the servant every time. He nearly succeeded once but was ultimately thwarted by the weaker bastard. It was a ridiculous fight with his own body. Not to mention, standing there struggling to open his lips in front of his servants made him seriously angry. It was a good thing the servants couldn't form opinions... because they always had to bring a new desk every time he smashed one in anger.

The least he could do was not feed his prisoner any food or water (not that there was water there anyway).

Then there were the times when he would blank out for what seemed like a few minutes. And find himself somewhere else. Yggdrasill was not one to indulge in worries. However, it was still alarming... alarmingly familiar. This has happened before. This has happened during the beginning. The lesser half had gained footing. Gained enough strength to start opposing the stronger half. Before, that lesser half must have just given up at some point, because the blank-outs became fewer and fewer. However, the opposite was becoming true now.

Reports of the prisoner having not died of starvation or thirst after about a week was also not good.

He was losing control. This cannot be allowed.

Down he paced the stairs, up, down, and around, ignoring the angel guards that floated around mindlessly. He entered his numerous libraries and exited them. He began pacing the stairs again.

Yggdrasill stopped mid-step.

Perhaps there _is_ a way...

Within seconds, he disappeared in a flash of white light.

And reappeared in a beautiful stone chamber. The room was dark except for one emanating light source coming from a lower level.

The Eternal Sword floated as it always had, for about the past four thousand years ever since its one and only use of severing the world into two. The sword itself was huge, almost the size of Yggdrassil himself. However, it was nothing but an illusion and a symbol. A symbol of Origin's power.

If it can sever worlds... surely it can sever other things.

Yggdrassil raised his hand towards the pommel of the sword.

_Origin._

The Eternal Sword hummed with energy.

_Pact-maker. What is it that you wish._

_You gave me the power to separate the world into two. Now I want you to physically separate this meddling, weak personality from me. _

_This will split the amount of mana you personally possess as well._

_Take only what is needed to separate the weakling from me. And I want all his new memories._

_That is not possible. There are already two distinct souls formed in your body with individual memories. _

_What about Summon Spirits and magical power that I learned myself? I want to make sure he has no access to the Summon Spirits._

Origin was silent for a second

_Well?_

_You will retain what you remember and the magical power that you learned on your own. He retains the power he remembers. The Summon Spirits will continue to honor the one they made their pact with. _

Now it was Yggdrassil's turn to be silent for a second. Ambiguous statements...

_Clarify that._

_There is nothing to clarify. The souls have already been divided on their own, I have no ability to customize in detail._

_Fine, however, mana should be possible to partition. Even if he is capable of his abilities, I demand that you only let him have as much mana to extricate him successfully from myself. _

_Regardless, the process of creating another body will still take much mana, and you will still be in a weaker state._

_I will find ways to amend for that._

_As you wish._

Origin smiled thinly to himself.

The Eternal Sword started to emit blinding rays of light, levitating, encircling, and engulfing Yggdrasill in a cocoon of myriad colors.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Ugh, I feel like we can almost touch the tower, but it still seems so far away!" Lloyd cried angrily.

"It should not be much longer. The tower always seems close due to the enormity of its size," Kratos said.

Five Rheairds flew through the starry Tethe'allan skies, first and foremost, Lloyd. Followed by Raine, Kratos, Yuan, and Colette.

There was no time for a sit-down discussion meeting or even a chance to rest from their journeys. Lloyd only heard two things from Raine's explanation of what happened to Genis: Captured. Somewhere at the top of the Tower of Salvation.

Kratos gave him credit for remembering that the Tower only showed up on the Tethe'allan side when Lloyd took off running toward the Rheaird warp portal room. However, plans had to be made on the fly while chasing Lloyd down. While running after Lloyd, Yuan decided that key people shouldn't go in case they, well, get killed.

However, no amount of reason could keep Colette from adamantly deciding to go since Genis was a close friend of hers as well. Yuan put the foot down on Sheena, however, as she was irreplaceably important in saving the worlds by making pacts with the Summon Spirits. Zelos had no problems volunteering to stay behind since he'd rather have some rest and relaxation after his recent strenuous and taxing adventure of getting back to base.

How were they going to get up to Derris-Kharlan? Well, with one of the Chosens, Kratos decided it was worth the gamble that the special warp pad in the Tower of Salvation_might_ have been forgotten to be turned off, since it's the most rarely used. And if the warp pads were closed... well... Raine and Colette agreed they would let Kratos, Yuan, and Lloyd (who now had the necessary requirements of an angel) have the fun of going back up the supply chain by themselves.

Raine leveled her Rheaird next to Colette.

"Are you okay, Colette? It's a lot of information to suddenly digest..."

Colette smiled faintly. "I do feel that I should be more shocked and upset at the fact that all that Phaidra has taught me... were in fact not entirely true. But I can't help feeling a bit glad that I can save Sylvarant in other ways besides sacrificing myself. I can't describe how I feel exactly... but I still do believe in the Goddess Martel because, I feel like, when I pray to her... she does speak to me and make me feel better."

Raine didn't say anything. However, Yuan heard the last part of what Colette said, and slowed his Rheaird down a bit to listen.

"When I was little, I would get so afraid... and s-sometimes I would hear her singing a beautiful tune to me in my head, calming me down. And when I got older, I had thought that if I were destined to die, it would be unfair for me to be close to anyone. But she would tell me not to be afraid... that it was okay to have friends and not keep them at a distance. And when I told her about Lloyd and Genis, she was the one that urged me to get to know Genis better. That all living beings are precious, regardless of their race. The Goddess Martel is so kind and so strong... she helped me so much...I know she exists and she is not a lie."

Yuan smiled in spite of himself. That sounds like Martel, alright... but hey, how come he never got any response from his Martel?? Another thought struck him. "Did she ever say anything about Desians, Colette?"

"I did ask her why Desians are so awful once... she told me it was all a horrible misunderstanding gone wrong. But she didn't say much more about it... she sounded so sad when she talked about them."

"I see..." Yuan flew next to Kratos.

"Hey, the Sylvarant Chosen seems to be able to communicate with Martel. She was saying how she prays to her and talks to her and stuff and she would talk back. Why don't I get such loving attention??"

Kratos chuckled. "Actually I would assume it is because she has the closest mana signature to Martel. Perhaps that somehow lets them communicate? I really don't have an answer for you, why are you asking me anyway?"

"I was just saying... but yeah I guess that makes sense. Unless the Sylvarant Chosen is actually insane, this would mean Martel's soul really is still alive. Possibly stuck in that crystal on the Mana Seed..."

Yuan shook his head sadly and sighed.

_--Make haste!_

Kratos snapped his head up.

A sudden shock wave of mana suddenly washed over the group, stopping all but Colette in their tracks.

"What was that?" Lloyd said, eyes wide.

"What was what? Why is everyone stopped?" Colette asked, confusedly.

"There was a large wave of powerful mana that came from the direction of the Tower..." Raine answered, though it didn't help Colette feel any more knowledgeable.

"We must hurry! Origin just spoke to me again and told us to make haste!" Kratos shouted.

Without another word, Lloyd revved the Rheaird and shot off, followed by Kratos, Raine, and Yuan who wasn't sure whether he should yell at them not to push the machines past the red line... but he did it himself anyway. This left Colette to figure out how to rev the engine in the first place, but as she looked at the various gauges, her foot slipped, and she gripped and twisted the handles extra hard--giving her a sudden jolt of speed that nearly toppled her off the Rheaird.

Within moments of landing, Colette found herself walking towards the Tower of Salvation that she knew so much but so little about. She was in awe, this is the same place where she was supposed to become an angel, lose her soul, and save Sylvarant...except in a whole different world called Tethe'alla.

"Colette, put your hand on that block of stone next to the door," Kratos instructed, pointing at the stone pedestal to the right of large ornately carved doors.

Yuan stopped her for a second.

"Before you open that door... everyone, hide your mana signatures now. I'm feeling the mana signature of someone inside that we don't want to meet..."

Everyone got their weapons and guard ready. Raine helped put a shield around Colette. Raine's hand was shaking.

"There's a weak signature in there, too!" Lloyd asked. "It must be Genis!"

As Colette placed her hand on the stone, she gasped as she felt a warm sensation and a glow emanating from below her hand.

The doors slowly opened to the echoes of a massive fight taking place somewhere high inside the tower.

* * *

**There it is!! Review, review! The more reviews, the faster I'll try to get the next one out! Har har, I really will try though. And reviews make me so warm and fuzzzzyy and oh by the way Valentines is tomorrow (for me), so um, yeah the reviews'll be like getting love letters! Woohoo! Alright, it's ok... it doesn't have to be me... ;; You can address them to Kratos or Lloyd or Zelos or whoever you want (guys, you have your choices of Sheena, Colette, and... uh Presea) P**

**Review!  
**


	26. Chapter 26: The Tower of Salvation

**First off, a serious apology. Yeah, I could go through all the excuses and stuff, but it mainly just boils down to a lost muse and life distractions. I was really having a hard time getting this chapter out and after re-writing parts over and over again, I really just want to get something up. Yeah, I know it's half my usual length, but you'll just have to view it as a teaser!**

**Still don't own Tales of Symphonia. Sigh.**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 26: The Tower of Salvation

Kratos and Yuan surged ahead and charged up the glass stairs towards a platform in the middle of the vast empty space inside the tower. Lloyd, Raine, and Colette, however, slowed their steps as they couldn't help but look around at the odd surroundings. They were walking up elaborately etched glass stairs. Each stair was a thick pane of glass that somehow cast off an eerie green glow of light. Below them loomed a dizzying abyss.

In the strange abyss floated strange white objects that spiraled all around them. Colette took a step back, her face completely drained of color. This was definitely not what she had in mind about the Tower of Salvation.

"Coffins?" Lloyd said uneasily, staring at the floating objects. "Of what...?"

Kratos stopped before the transporter and looked back at the three pale faces behind him. Yuan merely sighed impatiently.

"Yeah, they're coffins, get over it. We need to go save Genis before he ends up in one of them, hurry up!"

Kratos nodded his head. "We will explain later, for now it is imperative that we be ready for what is ahead of us. This transporter will take us to main chamber, where I believe is where we are hearing the sounds of battle up above us. There is more than a likely chance that we will be facing Yggdrasill. Our mission is to save Genis and teleport back here and escape. If it becomes a serious fight, Raine, we will be in vital need of your healing arts."

Raine nodded, gripping her staff securely. It wasn't the usual wooden teaching staff she used to have to hit students when they misbehaved. This was a staff crafted for the channeling of magic.

"Let us go." She said.

Lloyd's face was set, as he gripped his new twin blades tightly. He was really curious to see what this Yig-whatever looked like, this evil boss of his dad's. He was ready to slice and dice. Magic? As much as he wanted to blaze in there with an Eruption, he realized how bad his aim was and Genis was too important to him to risk it. Just in case. He looked at Colette.

"Colette..." Lloyd started.

Colette merely turned to look at him, her nervous expression quickly replaced by a glowing smile of determination.

"Colette, maybe you should stay... it could get ugly up there and I don't..." Lloyd trailed off, looking away.

Kratos stepped forward. "Yes, Chosen, it would be best if you did not risk it. You are still important to the people of Sylvarant, and to lose you would be devastating for them."

"But..."

"You have done your part to help us enter the Tower. When we come back, you will be the first to take Genis back to base."

Colette looked grim. After a while she nodded slightly. She really wasn't sure she could hold her own up there with her skills anyway... Not to mention, there were other things she wanted to think about.

"I will be waiting here."

"You sure??" Lloyd replied, looking around. "This is a nasty place, maybe you should go outside..."

"No, this is where I will be. It's okay, honestly," Colette smiled widely.

"Okay.."

A large explosion above snapped Lloyd back.

Raine took one last glance at Colette, who had turned her head to contemplate the coffins rotating around her.

"Raine, do you know the spell for a barrier shield?" Yuan asked quickly.

"I read about it, but never used it before..."

"It's okay, I'll cast it. If you cast it, it would probably be stronger, but at this point... Anyway, everyone, we're going to step in the warp pad at the same time. During which I'm going to cast a barrier in case some spell hits us before we even know what's going on. Now, Kratos on the count of three." Yuan made sure everyone involved nodded. Then he closed his eyes and started the spell for barrier protection.

"One," Kratos started. "Two. Three!"

Colette watched as the group stepped as one into the glowing circle. Light encircled them and they disappeared. Then she turned around and sat on one of the steps, staring at the coffins below her.

_xxxxxxxxxxx_

It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the dark chamber they materialized into, and when they did, Yuan nearly dropped the barrier in shock.

Raine could tell that, even in the dim, hazy lighting, they were in a grand chamber... that had just suffered serious devastation. Cracks spread throughout the giant columns lining the room, and many of the structures had been broken into pieces on the ground. The only object in the room that looked untouched was also the only one offering any degree of lighting. A massive sword seemingly made purely out of various shades of purple light, glowed brightly in the middle of the room. Twin stairways flanked the sword, leading to an upper deck. However, they were cracked and rubble covered the majority of the steps. The dust in the air had not even settled yet.

The silence was deafening as they waited for any sign of activity.

"There's no one here..." Lloyd whispered, looking around wildly. "Are we too la--"

Beams of searing white light shook Yuan's barrier, breaking the spell upon impact.

"It's Yggdrasill! Keep a lookout!" Kratos yelled.

The group immediately scattered, squinting hard through the darkness for any sign of the enemy. Columns of light continued to fall in erratic patterns, and Lloyd did his best to avoid them, but was finally caught in a downpour while trying to avoid another. White-hot heat seared his body, and the force of it knocked him to the ground. He tried to get up but every part of his body felt scalded and tender to the lightest touch.

Raine immediately came to his assistance, casting a healing circle around him, cooling and healing Lloyd and Yuan, who had an arm caught in one of the beams.

"Traitors! How dare you show your faces again! I have no time for you two now, prepare for true judgement later!"

No one could detect his mana signature but when Yggdrassil phased out of the room, they all felt the ripple effect on the mana around them.

"He's gone," Yuan said.

"Did he take a transporter?" Lloyd asked.

"Mostly likely, he did not. Yggdrasill has the power to warp himself anywhere he wants, he doesn't need a transporter. However, there should be a warp pad up here," Kratos explained as he quickly picked his way up the stairs around the rubble.

"So I wonder who Yggdrasill was fighting and where he went?" Raine pondered aloud.

"We have no way of knowing right now. However, I'm not sure Genis could have held Yggdrasill at bay for that long... or perhaps he discovered the warp pad and used it!" Yuan said, his face brightening. "Alright let's hurry up and save him while he's still running."

As urgent as the matter was, Raine and Lloyd really wanted to ask about the strange sword in the middle of the room. Lloyd looked at Raine quizzically after glancing at the sword and she shook her head. It was simply just the wrong time to be asking anything irrelevant to the task at hand.

"Man, another warp pad..." Lloyd said when he reached the top deck and saw the glowing circle of intricate patterns on the ground. "How many more are there??"

Raine, meanwhile pinched Lloyd's cheek. "Bored already, young man?"

"No, it's fascinating!"

"This is the final one that leads to Welgaia." Yuan replied. He ignored the two and continued to check the warp circle. "Good, it doesn't seem locked. I'm going to repeat the barrier spell again. Is everyone ready? This time, get ready for hoards of emotionless angels that may attack you. And remember, they may have wings but they're not holy or anything so please, feel free to attack them."

"Remember, do not fight if it can be avoided. Our mission is to find Genis and escape immediately," Kratos stated slowly.

Lloyd took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves down as he stepped in and the light swirled around.

* * *

**Yes, it is maddenly short. Yes, nothing super substantial happened. But review anyway! If any of you know Kratos' favorite snack, feel free to give me some as bait. Currently, I have gotten rid of my stock of cherry tomatoes, I have a bad feeling that was why he finally took his escape. But they were so good...**

** Review!  
**


	27. Chapter 27: The City of Angels

**SO WHERE HAS THIS GIRL BEEN? Yeah I know, life kinda gets in the way a lot, sigh. Anyway! I did finally get it out after much toil and whatnot. What's been happening in the story? Oh right, people are trying to save Genis! Okay, you're all caught up now, now onward!**

**Tales of Symphonia I do not own. Unfortunately.**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 27: The City of Angels

Raine never was one to question what was never questioned.

History existed like a partially carved block of marble. A solid block of information that could be ever more intricate and beautiful through the tools of a researcher.

The hero Mithos, the Kharlan war, and the cycle of rejuvenation of Sylvarant by the Chosen... these were facts that she learned and passed on. The fact that she found the town where the current Chosen herself lived almost made her explode with excitement.

The Chosen, however, was just a little girl. No different from any other child. Except that she carried the burden of the hopes and the dreams of the everyone in the village... not to mention, the entire world of Sylvarant. Raine noted that her personality was that of resignation to her fate. She was a quiet child who had been ostracized for the most part by others of her age. Even though it was unintentional that the other children regarded her politely, loneliness was Colette's constant companion.

Then the Chosen met Lloyd and Genis, the other strange, new members of the little Iselian community. By the time Raine became their teacher, Colette had already been close friends with Lloyd, who had been regarded as extremely strange by the village kids. Phaidra, who is Colette's grandmother, mentor, and caretaker, had been worried about this strange friendship, but the spark of life that lit in the little girl's eyes couldn't be denied.

She wanted to live. But her life was already laid out for her.

"Raine teacher," Colette once asked after class. "Lloyd... Lloyd said he would go with me on the Journey with me... Could he? I... half of me was so happy, but half of me was so sad... he doesn't know, does he? Grandmother said she didn't want him to come with me."

"it's not for another year, is it not?" Raine replied.

"The oracle is set to come next year, yes."

"He is rather young to be accompanying you, that is true."

"I'm just so afraid..."

"What are you afraid of?"

Colette looked at her feet. "H-he thinks... he... he always talks about afterwards... or... or how much fun it would be when I get to be an angel... b-but I d-don't..."

Tears threatened to fall, but she squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath.

"I-I don't know," She finally replied, "I'm sorry for bothering you." Without another word, she quickly exited the school room.

Raine sighed as she watched her student run out of the schoolroom. People like to think that when the Chosen succeeds, she just becomes an angel and the whole world is saved. Few care to understand the finality of the sacrifice she has to make in order to rejuvenate the earth. This was the unpleasant truth that was written in the books but never remembered by the masses.

Then there was the other anomalous fact that Raine stumbled upon.

Lloyd himself looked like an angel of some kind, though she never envisioned an angel's wings to not be solid birdlike wings. He is the only angel Raine had ever seen. Where did he come from? Does he know something they don't? He didn't seem to be believe that Colette's soul would pass on when she became an angel... Or maybe he knows nothing about it...

Raine shook her head. Leaving Colette alone with her thoughts in a coffin-filled room still didn't seem like such a great idea...

A strange, highly advanced city materialized around her, snapping her out of her musings.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Angels flitted frantically all around them as Raine, Lloyd, Kratos, and Yuan materialized in the middle of absolute mayhem. Some angels noticed them, some ignored them, and most were busy flying as if searching for something in particular. However, none attacked. Yuan quickly let down the barrier, utterly confused.

_Angels!_ Raine's heart skipped a beat. Real angels in the flesh! And they had solid birdlike wings unlike Lloyd's ethereal ones. The latest rumor that had been circulating about Colette's possible angelic dad suddenly didn't seem so far-fetched. Then what was Lloyd?

Kratos caught an angel rushing past them and stopped him.

"Lord Kratos!"

Yuan raised an eyebrow at Kratos, who gave the same look back. So it seems neither of them had been put on the 'wanted' list yet in Welgaia. Lloyd couldn't help a giddy smile at the sound of his dad being called 'Lord'. Raine, however, was trying her best not to look dumbfounded.

"What orders have been given?" Kratos asked.

"Groups of us are following different orders, sir. There has been two sightings of Lord Yggdrasill coming from the Tower warp, but both issued different orders. Those of us who did not hear the command in person are caught between, uncertain."

"What'd the first one say?"

"To attack the first person that appears in Welgaia after him. He told us it is an impostor that will look like him."

"Did he appear?"

"Yes, sir. He told us the first one was the impostor so those who heard him, stopped."

"So what was the second one's order?"

"To search for an impostor that looks like Lord Yggdrasil in the company of the prisoner."

"The prisoner?"

"Yes, a half-elf that has been here for the past two weeks."

Kratos pondered for a second.

"So both possible impostors are being hunted, correct?"

"Yes, sir. Those of us who did not hear the direct order have stayed dormant."

Kratos looked up at the storm of angels flying around.

"Attention!"

All the angels stopped rushing around and listened intently.

"Lord Kratos." They all intoned simultaneously.

Lloyd stared at his dad in awe. That's some power! And why were these angels just stopping and listening to him??

Raine did her best to keep her mind blank and her opinions at bay.

Kratos spoke in a stentorian voice that simply had to be listened to.

"There has been conflicting orders given by possible impostors of the great Lord Yggdrasill. I want all of you to return to original duty and ignore the sensitive aberration at hand. Any sighting of Lord Yggdrasill need to be ignored until further notice from either Lord Yuan or me. We are here to take control and lower duty angels are not to interfere."

"Yes, sir." The angels replied, and the mayhem stopped immediately. Within seconds, they started to float around as if nothing happened.

"Dad..." Lloyd said in a low voice. "What... what's wrong with them? Why are they so, like, you know--"

"Compliant?" Raine filled in as she stepped closer to Kratos and Yuan.

"These angels lack emotion and are unable to conjure any feelings of opinion. In essence they are like robots and only listen to commands given by those above them in rank."

Yuan quickly rounded on Kratos. "Why didn't you just tell all of them to go attack an unaccompanied Yiggy or something?"

"They would all most definitely die at Yggdrasill's hands, is that what you want?"

Yuan didn't say anything.

"At least this leaves us free to find those two without too much distraction."

"I still wonder how we still command power here..." Yuan said to Kratos quietly.

"I realized they did not attack us, so I stopped one of them. We should just be grateful and not question any further at this time."

Kratos slowed down next to Lloyd and Raine. "Raine, if any of them asks, you must assume an identity of a half-elf that is about to receive blessing. That would be how it's worded."

Yuan walked in stepped on Raine's other side. "You'd theoretically be turned into one of them, wouldn't that be fun?"

"They are all half-elves?" Raine whispered.

"Well, they are considered just angels, not human or half-elf, which is what Yiggy was trying to do. His idea of everyone becoming the same robotic, emotionless being. Thus ridding discrimination... in his eyes. Funny enough, he doesn't give this treatment to any humans that I've seen." Yuan shrugged.

Kratos walked quickly through hallways and conveyor belts that led to the prisons, constantly reminding Lloyd and Raine not to fall behind while they looked around in wonder.

The air flickered ever so slightly, a slight wind that blew towards a figure all in white, hidden in the shadows of a connecting hallway.

Yuan suddenly stopped, whirled around, and without a second though, grabbed Raine's arm and threw her behind him.

"EVERYONE ON GUARD!" Kratos suddenly jumped in front of Lloyd, shielding him with a Guardian spell as spears of blinding light suddenly shot forth.

"HOW DID THESE TRAITORS GET UP HERE?? ATTACK!"

Within seconds, groups of angels close to them took their weapons out without hesitation and flew towards them.

Lloyd barely had time to assess just how tender his skin was scathed by the spears of light when was put to the test immediately against an angel swordsman. The angel was unusually strong, and Lloyd struggled hard to find an opening to strike.

Suddenly he was hit by an arrow in his left leg, giving the angel just enough time to swipe him across the chest. Blood splattered across the ground as Lloyd clenched his chest in pain.

"Lloyd!" Kratos gave a final thrust at his current opponent and ran to defend Lloyd. Raine immediately started chanting a spell for a healing circle as Yuan quickly took up defensive positions next to Kratos and in front of Lloyd and Raine. With no time to cast any spells, Yuan relied on his double-ended blade, which did not make him any less formidable.

"Didn't you just tell them NOT to listen to the Yig-whats-his-name??" Lloyd shouted painfully.

"I'm afraid this group of angels did not hear what I said in the other room..." Kratos replied, gritting his teeth.

They were backed up against the wall. After pulling the arrow out of his leg and receiving a welcome rush of healing aid, Lloyd struggled up again to fill in a gap between Kratos and the wall.

Blood was pounding in his ears as he delivered swipe after swipe with both of his blades and finishing with a flourish of his newest personal technique, a quick succession of thrusts from both swords which he proudly named 'Sword Rain'.

And the flourish gave other angels the opportunity to strike him from the side, an unpleasant reminder of his father telling him time and time again not to give into hubris.

"Dammit, Kratos, Yggdrasill's gotten away by now! We need to find a warp pad quickly! Let's move out right towards the warp to the prisons!"

"That's a dead end, Yuan!" Kratos cried back. "We need to move back towards the Salvation warp pad! I'm pretty sure Genis is not in the prisons if Mithos reached him first!"

"Speaking of that little brat, where is he??" Yuan yelled, whirling his blade behind him, slicing the angels at the front and knocking them against the crowd behind them.

"Let's just hope he didn't meet up with Yggdrasill," Kratos answered as he blocked an incoming blade with his shield and sliced another angel in the side on the right.

"Dad! Can't you just tell them to just chill out??" Lloyd shouted.

"Yggdrassill just overruled us in regards to these guys, I'm afraid," Yuan answered instead.

"Well then why don't we tell the angels we told in the other room to blockade this group?? They still seemed pretty willing to help us!" Raine yelled. "Let's go!"

They made a mad dash back through the conveyer belts and hallways led by Yuan, while being followed by an army of emotionless angels bent on their death. Thankfully, the angels in the main area still floated peacefully as commanded.

"ATTENTION! BLOCKADE THE ENTRYWAY OF TUNNEL C-3 AGAINST ANGELS MANIPULATED BY THE IMPOSTER!" Yuan shouted as he sprinted out into the main chamber.

Instantly, angels flew downwards towards the entrance of the conveyer belt hallway, forming something of a wall. Lloyd barely made it out in time before flocks of them butted him out. He looked back, expecting a massacre, but strangely enough both sides just stopped and stared at each other.

"Wha..." Lloyd started.

"Neither were given orders to attack each other, and the other group can't get to us. You'll realize that they work on very simple algorithms." Kratos replied, smiling at the strange sight of opposing angels staring at each other, unmoved.

"So... the angels that were after us are not going to kill the angels in front of them to get to us...? And how long will they stare at each other like that?" Raine asked, staring incredulously at the scene.

Kratos merely gave a shrug. He turned to one of the angels standing at attention.

"Have you seen Lord Yggdrasill pass by with the prisoner?"

"Yes. He ran toward the portal room. We paid them no heed as you ordered."

"The portal room? The portals are closed are they not?"

"Lord Yggdrasill asked us to turn them back on a week ago."

Kratos glanced at Yuan with a puzzled look. Yuan had a similar look of disbelief.

"Reason?"

"None were given, sir."

"Okay, let's go." Kratos quickly took the lead, walking quickly toward the portal rooms that connected with Sylvarant and Tethe'alla.

Raine took a last sad glance at the lifeless angels standing at attention.

"Kratos, it's gotta be Mithos that ordered the stations turned on... but I thought he had no idea what to do in this new world..." Yuan said confusedly. "Dammit, we really could have just _tried_ to see if the Sylvarant pad worked before we entered the tower!"

"We had no information, we could only rely on what we knew and now we can only rely o--"

The ground shook violently as a blast of wind came from the direction they were headed in.

"Genis!" Raine and Lloyd cried, and took off at a run towards the small portal room.

Traces of something burnt wafted through the air.

Genis was standing in front of one Yggdrasill as another Yggdrasil stood up clumsily in front of the portals in the cramped room. His hair was in disarray as if struck by lightning.

"Two identical Yggdrasills??"

The Yggdrasill close to Genis croaked something to Genis which the party couldn't hear but saw Genis shake his head violently. Then in a louder tone, "Go, go! Get to the warp pad whi--"

"DOUBLE DEMON FANG!" Lloyd shouted as he jumped into the room--surprising everyone--slicing the air and sending waves of sharp energy towards the Yggdrasill standing in front of the portals.

Yggdrasill quickly phased a little too late, after receiving a blow from the first wave.

"Lloyd! NO!" Genis cried.

Lloyd felt the air behind him shimmer. Before he could do anything, Kratos instantly thrust his blade into the still materializing Yggdrasill, following up with a light spear as his victim solidified.

Doubling over in pain, Yggdrasill fell back and with amazing speed, conjured upon holy lances to attack in all directions, slicing through and searing flesh of arms held up in defense.

"Get to warp! It's open! Don't bother with me, just go! Get out of here!" The Yggdrasill on the floor cried. He looked in terrible shape, holding a large wound at his side, and seemingly sapped of all his energy.

Within seconds, a glowing magical circle appeared below him as he chanted a spell quickly.

"NO, Mithos, NO!" Genis launched himself at Mithos, but was blocked by the field that surrounded the caster.

Kratos and Yuan quickly turned their head and glanced at the Yggdrasill on the ground. "Mithos?"

Quickly the room was enveloped in darkness as a darkly luminescent, purple shadow rose from the ground in the midst of the group. Lloyd was utterly confused as the Yggdrasill next to him seemed frozen to the ground as a seemingly depthless blackness spread from his feet and rooted him to the ground, making him scream in bloodcurdling pain.

Without another word, Lloyd ran to his friend, who was trying his best to carry an unconscious Yggdrasill. Within moments, Lloyd had this Yggdrasill over his shoulder and was making his way to one of the two warp pads.

Suddenly the bloodcurdling scream went silent. Yggdrasill was nowhere to be seen.

"Where... is he...?" Raine said uneasily. She quickly ran over to Genis, who was shaking.

"Hurry Lloyd, set him down!" Yuan said quickly. Lloyd quickly did as he was told.

Yuan walked over and kneeled next to the unconscious form of the adult Yggdrasill. He knew inwardly that this was Mithos, but he still looked like the Yig... Without further ado, he placed a hand on Mithos' chest and a faint blue light emanated from his hand, illuminating Mithos' whole body.

"Mithos drained his life mana to summon Shadow. Why? He should have plenty of mana..." Kratos mused.

Genis looked up. "H-he told me really quickly that he had just been physically separated from his other half, thanks to the Eternal Sword."

"What?"

"...s-so, but while he retained his pacts to summon spirits he personally made pacts with, his mana was completely drained so he actually can't cast any spells at all, without using his internal life mana..."

"Should we, um, get out of here?" Lloyd asked.

Suddenly, there was a cough and the Yggdrasill on the ground woke up. "Yuan! Kratos!!"

"Mithos? It is you?" Yuan asked.

"Yes, yes!! I'm not evil! I don't know what happened, but one moment I just suddenly appeared and I saw a double of my self in front of me and he was trying to kill me but a voice in my head told me to run and get Genis, so I ran!"

Mithos took a deep rattling breath, after expending it on the last sentence.

"I see. Should we move him at all?" Kratos said, uneasily.

"Is there any way to blockade Welgaia from his alter ego from phasing back here?" Yuan answered with his own question.

"He can phase freely?" Mithos asked, wide-eyed.

"Didn't you know? He doesn't need old-fashioned warp pads." Yuan answered, surprised.

"Wow, I guess he has picked up a lot more spells than I have..." Mithos said quietly.

"So anyone have an idea to keep Yggdrasill from phasing back here?"

"Oh! How about that book we found on large barriers and protective devices?"

Kratos and Yuan gave Mithos a questioning look.

"Uh, you know, when we were walking around Syback trying to find more information on Holy Crystals..."

"Ah yes, the runt is four thousand years behind the times, I forget. Yeah, I believe that book might be in Yiggy's private library somewhere," Yuan said.

"Either way, I think he won't come back for a while, Shadow should have hurt him deeply enough that he will need to find a way to recover."

"So _you_ want to stay here to recuperate?" Genis asked uneasily.

"I kind of feel like I ought to put this place right before I just leave it like this... all the angels so completely lifeless and without a mind..."

"Save that for another day, regaining your strength and determining what limitations and powers you now have is more important." Kratos said with a tone of finality. Without another word, he stepped out of the room and came back with four angels and a stretcher.

"Take Lord Yggdrasill to his quarters and ensure that he receives utmost care," Kratos ordered. "Oh, and Mithos, call off that staring contest in the main area."

"Genis..." Raine started, then suddenly enveloped her brother in a giant hug. When Genis finally freed himself, he noticed his sister wiping tears from her eyes. So then he launched himself at Raine and gave her a big hug of his own.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Raine."

A shadow crept over the two siblings.

"And me??" Lloyd demanded, hands on his hips.

And so Genis quickly switched over to Lloyd and tried to knock him down with a violent hug. "And you, Lloyd!!"

"Mind you, Lloyd was the first to run to the Rheairds when he heard you were captured. No further planning or questions were asked," Raine said, smiling.

"Awww, Lloyd! You're still the best!"

"I'm going to go check up on Mithos," Kratos said quickly.

Lloyd looked at his father questioningly.

"You can retire in my quarters if you are tired. Just ask any of the guards where it is located."

"Fine! I'll go search for this barriers book myself!" Yuan stood up, slightly annoyed that no one seemed to think blockading the Yig was paramount to their immediate safety.

"I'll go!" Raine volunteered without hesitation. "Secret books?? Lost tomes??"

Yuan looked at her anxiously. "Yeah, there are plenty of old books hidden away in his castle. But we're searching for this specific book on barriers!"

"You got it, let's go!" Raine jumped up excitedly. Then suddenly looked serious again. "Colette. We've left her alone in that horrible tower for a long time."

"We'll go get her," Lloyd and Genis said in unison.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Colette turned around at the sound of rushing wind behind her.

At the sight of Lloyd and Genis, a large smile spread across her face as she ran towards Genis.

"Genis, you're okay!! Where's everyone else?? Are they okay? I'll take you back to the base!"

Lloyd scratched his head. "Oh, Colette, actually we're gonna make ourselves at home for the night up there, so we came to get you... It's a long story, we'll fill you in..."

* * *

**OOH, a relaxing ending to a chapter! Oh dear, I need to be harder on you folks! But ah, I just finished a long day of moving, so even these guys deserve a break! P**

**you know what's next...**

**R E V I E W ! ! ! !**


	28. Chapter 28: Questions without Answers

**Weeks! or Months! Goodness, what have I been doing?? Well, this was a nerve-wracking chapter that has been in the works forever. Finally, after many musings in the shower, I've got a blueprint of sorts for what feels like... the second half of the story? Oh dear, I have so many ideas, it may go on forever! Oo**

**I've also been playing Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP. Man, is it sad to know this is like, a remake of a ten-year old game? Wait, so that means when I played the PS1 version of the game in high school... that was 10 years ago?? Gaaaahhhh! Anyway, the re-translation and added anime (non-traditional illustrations, so beautiful)cutscenes are absolutely excellent. I really got into the story, and am also writing a fanfic on the side for a couple of those characters... No, not posted yet, hah.**

**Fear not, I shall not abandon this story! Or should you fear? Hmmm. This chapter might be a little long-winded at parts, but I swear I'm going somewhere!  
**

**Still don't own Tales of Symphonia... even after all this time.**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 28: Questions without Answers

Sheena stared at the dark ceiling above her, trying to clear her head so she could sleep. All the meditation and training she went through in Mizuho couldn't stop her from imagining that horrible things had happened to her friends. Before, she excused the days passing included travel time, but now it really seemed too long.

It had been nearly a week.

She got out of bed. Time for another midnight stroll around the base. She walked past Zelos' room. The door was closed, as it always was at night. But she found herself putting her ear on the door anyway to see if he was actually awake. Nothing. Only silence.

Only silence? He should at least be snoring or something...

"Sheena?"

Sheena jumped and slapped her hand to her mouth to silence the scream she was about to let loose. Behind her sat Anna, in her wheelchair, looking at her questioningly.

"M-Mrs. Irving! I, I--"

"If you're wondering if Zelos is in there, all I can say is that I haven't seen him all night since dinner. And I have been wandering around these halls quite often."

Sheena looked at her confusedly. Yeah, she hadn't seen him since dinner either. Zelos didn't seem any different from before, last she saw him. Without further hesitation, Sheena quickly pushed the switch on the side, opening the door.

It was dark, but Sheena could tell that the bed was empty.

"He must be out for a walk. I wouldn't be surprised, Sheena, since it seems you can't sleep either."

"And neither can you. Every time I get up for a late night snack or something, I always see you doing something."

Anna smiled. She hasn't slept for years. "Sleep doesn't come easily to me. Come, speaking of a late night snack, I wouldn't mind some fruit cocktail...with almond flavored agar. Perhaps we may even find Zelos in the kitchen."

There was a question that had been burning in Sheena's mind for a while. She didn't really know Mrs. Irving all that well, and there never seemed to be a right time to ask it. All she really knew was that she was Lloyd's mother, and she was Kratos' wife. Both people she had now seen wings on.

Sheena made herself a cup of ramen and sat next to Anna. They weren't in a full kitchen, but it was a nice cozy break room of sorts that was always well-stocked with plenty of snacks.

"Is something wrong Sheena?" Anna asked, noticing the robotic, mindless way Sheena was stirring her noodles.

"Ah... I have a question I'd been wanting to ask... but, um..."

"Yes?"

Sheena shifted uneasily. "So...why do Kratos, Yuan, and even Lloyd... why do they have wings?"

Anna sighed. Where was Zelos, she might as well tell all of them without having to repeat herself. Then again, maybe Sheena can tell Zelos later when she finds him.

So she held out her hand and started. "See how my ex-sphere is different from yours? It's called a Cruxis Crystal..."

Before she knew it, she had basically told her whole life story beginning with her life getting out of the ranch.

Sheena listened in shock with her jaw ajar, noodles forgotten and cold. She'd always wondered how Anna ended up in the wheelchair but never really felt it was her place to ask.

"So... you and Kratos are searching for stuff to make a Ring of the Pact? Is that all we need to summon Origin and save the world? Uncle Yuan always said I needed to make pacts with all the summon spirits... I'm so confused."

"I don't think anyone knows exactly how to go about setting the world right. As far as I understand it, we--they will help you win the pacts of the summon spirits so you can summon Origin. Then with the Ring of the Pact, Kratos can finally break free of his role as Origin's seal, take control of the Eternal Sword and turn the world back to its original form."

"Original form... Yuan talked about it as well... but somehow I can't wrap my head around how the world would look after that. Would cities disappear? Would the countries be destroyed or made?"

"That, I don't know. I'm afraid neither of us are old enough to know what the world was like when it was one."

"Well it's not like Yuan and Kratos should know either, no one is old enough to know. Maybe this 'original world' business is just a myth." Sheena sat back in her chair and sighed heavily.

Anna had a grape halfway to her mouth. She set it back in the cup. So Sheena doesn't know. But it's not her place to tell her about Yuan and Kratos' true age and story...

"I do know that eight elemental summon spirits exist opposite of each other in two different worlds. These two worlds are related, Yuan said if the Sylvarant Chosen succeeds, then our world, Tethe'alla, will decline. It seems a little crazy, but it must be true since I'm here, in that other declined world. Zelos' big mouth reached the king and he wanted me to kill the Sylvarant Chosen, but Yuan intervened, saying it wasn't necessary."

Sheena looked at her cold noodles. Then a sudden thought crossed her mind.

"Hey, maybe Tethe'alla is advanced enough to know how to cure paralysis somewhere!"

Anna smiled. "Well Yuan and Kratos couldn't find any in either world... _but_, Raine and I came across an ancient book of cures in Yuan's library and it mentions a possibility. Why he never checked his own library is beyond me. However, the cure it talks about requires the horn of a unicorn. But I've been thinking, if I have to take a unicorn's horn, which would end its life... just to possibly gain the ability to walk... I can't help but think it's rather selfish and not worth it."

"Hmm, maybe the Elemental Research Laboratory in Meltokio may have one! Or possibly the university in Sybak! Yes, Mrs. Irving--"

"Please call me Anna, Mrs Irving sounds really old and strange."

"--Anna... I can't sleep anyway, and I need something to take my mind off of when they're gonna come back. I'm going to visit these two places and see if I can't find a unicorn horn for you!"

Anna grinned at Sheena's excitement. Chances were probably very close to zero, but why not let a restless girl go get some fresh air?

"Thank you Sheena. Now, if you don't find any, please don't be too discouraged. I am used to the way I am and I honestly am grateful enough that all I lost was control over my legs and not my life."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

On Derris Kharlan, the small band of Genis' saviors were making themselves at home. Lloyd tried to command the angels to do stuff, but was soon frustrated at they didn't even seem to acknowledge that he was there. After complaining for a good ten minutes, Kratos finally stopped him and said that they only listen to Mithos, Yggdrassil, himself, and Yuan. Some others are programmed to listen to list of other people as well. Genis finally dragged Lloyd out of the room after Kratos firmly refused to add Lloyd to the list of people the angels must obey.

Mithos had not awakened for the past two days.

Mithos sat against puffy white pillows on a white bed of comfortable sheets and comforters. He had slept almost two days straight since he was carried up there. Still somewhat groggy and feeling excessively weak, he looked around at all the people surrounding him. Yuan, Kratos, Raine, Lloyd, Genis, and Colette. They had dropped whatever they were doing at the moment ever since a serving angel announced that he had awoken.

"So you have absolutely no magical mana anymore," Kratos stated.

"Look, like I said, I won't say I have _none_, but just so little that the most I can ever cast would be a healing spell equal to--I don't know, a band-aid or something. I could probably light a stove too, maybe..."

"What's a band-aid?" Lloyd asked.

"Right okay, basically none," Yuan said, nodding his head and completely disregarding Lloyd. "So you can recall every spell you've learned in its written entirety as well as those to summon all the spirits except Origin and Maxwell. But, none of them can come to your aid in any way unless you drain your life mana. Now that really is funny and very frustrating."

Genis looked at his friend worriedly. "So you can still feel the flow of mana? But you can't control it? Maybe you'll gain it back gradually again."

Mithos looked thoughtful for a second. Then shook his head. "It's not natural, whatever it is, I don't get any feeling that I'm ever going to be able to cast any spells again unless I find my evil twin and figure out something. Most effectively with Origin's help. It's as if... as if that part of me got separated from me. Which, well, I guess it literally did happen."

"Poor Origin," Colette mused aloud. "He must have been so sad to be stuck with the bad guy..."

"Hey, who's Maxwell?" Lloyd asked.

"Oh, how sharp of you to notice that, Lloyd!" Raine smiled glowingly and clasped her hands together. "Maxwell is said to be even older than Origin! He is as far as I know, a myth, but perhaps he must also exist. He is supposed to be the Spirit of Birth, am I right?"

"I think it will always be an uncertainty as to whether Maxwell or Origin were first in their creation, but Origin is the definite king of them all. However, Maxwell is not part of the requirement of acquiring the pacts of all summon spirits to even be able to call forth Origin. It does seem that Yggdrassil did at some point gain the pact with Maxwell on his own." Kratos said.

Mithos let out a frustrated sigh.

"Okay, I have basically no more command of magic nor any way to summon the spirits since they require magical mana. However, I do have most of the summon spirits under my pact except for Undine, who has made a new pact with your friend Sheena. My evil twin, however, still has command of the two most powerful summon spirits and more than enough personal magical mana to freely cast them about. Are these the main differences?"

Yuan crossed his arms. "You are missing the obsessed need to revive Martel. I must say that was the whole reason Yggdrassil appeared. I'm guessing you're not missing your sister too much?"

Mithos didn't immediately reply. "Of course I miss her. But I know she would not want to be revived again."

Raine quickly filled the split second of awkward silence with a question. "If you were to win back Undine, and thus have the pact of all the Summon Spirits--_hypothetically speaking--_would you be able to get Origin back?"

"Interesting proposal, however, I actually don't think so," Kratos answered. "Mithos and Yggdrassil are, as it seems to me, still two sides of the same coin. However, a wholly different person can summon Origin if she made pacts with all the elemental summon spirits."

Lloyd had something of a seriously confused look about him. "What was the point of the Ring of the Pact again?"

Everyone looked at him, it seemed like a dumb question but they realized they didn't quite have an answer.

Yuan spoke first. "Okay, before Mithos showed up, my original plan was to gather the pacts of the summon spirits to summon Origin. Then I, a half-elf, can wield it and change the world back."

"You forgot to mention that you would have to fight me as well," Kratos said tonelessly.

"_Soooooooo," _continued Yuan. "Now that Origin has told Kratos a loophole--that being the Ring--um, so do we still need to continue making pacts with the elemental spirits?

Mithos leaned his head back weakly against the pillows and closed his eyes. "I just remembered something."

Everyone waited silently.

Mithos straightened himself up a bit. "Now, I may have the pacts of the summon spirits, but half of them are not awake (except Undine, but the worlds still seem okay). Thus it wouldn't work anyway if I could call upon all of them. But then, we can't have all of them awake at the same time since it would shake the balance of mana between the two worlds and something bad would probably happen."

Yuan was really feeling frustrated now. He thought he had figured it out all these years, searching so hard for a summoner...

"All Origin mentioned to me was the Ring of the Pact. No more than that." Kratos said flatly.

"Alright," Raine finally said, breaking into the unhappy discussion. "It seems the safest possibility right now is to find the items to make the Ring of the Pact. If, after we make the Ring, Origin does not appear, then we'll start thinking about the summon spirits again. How about that?"

No one seemed to have much to say against that, so Raine crossed her arms smugly.

"Uh.." Colette started.

"Yes?"

"Do I...do I still need to do the Journey of Regeneration?"

Everyone stared at her. Everyone except Lloyd, who no one noticed had fallen asleep standing.

"I-I'm sorry..." Collete said, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Maybe it was a dumb question...

"Technically, no...?" Yuan ventured uncertainly.

"The people of Sylvarant will be devastated if Collete did not perform her duty, or at least act it out." Kratos said.

Raine thought for a minute. "Well, I think all the people need to see is the Light of the Oracle, and the Tower of Salvation. Those were what the villagers in Iselia always talked about and dreamed of seeing. Anyway, when the time comes, we will plan something."

"Of the three items, we have in possession, the Aionis. The next two we must acquire are the sacred wood and adamantite." Kratos listed.

"Okay, we can find sacred wood in Ozette. And adamantite... well... isn't it just a myth?" Yuan said. "If even I ask whether it's a myth, then that means it probably is a myth."

"NOOO!" Lloyd suddenly jumped up and shouted. Then he realized he was in the middle of the room with every pair of eyes on him.

"Wait... were you asleep this whole time?" Raine asked, horrified.

"Uh..."

"Anything you want to tell us about, Lloyd?" Kratos asked, slightly annoyed.

"Ah... nothing..." Lloyd replied, scratching his head. "Oh, so what are we doing about the Yig?"

Silence.

"Aaaargh, quit adding more things to worry about!!" Yuan cried, pulling at his hair, causing more hair to fall out of the knot he had tied in the back. "No! No more!"

"My guess would be that he would seek sanctuary in the Asgard Ranch," Kratos suddenly said. "That is Pronyma's base, we may have ousted him out of Derris Kharlan, but he still has plenty of people under him."

"So... what are we doing?" Lloyd asked, shifting his weight back and forth. "I want to go after the Yig. Actually, I want to go home."

"Home meaning..." Yuan prompted.

"Wherever mom and Noishe are."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Sheena hummed a Mizuho folk song as she ran through the gates of Meltokio toward the Elemental Research Laboratory. The sun was just beginning to rise, and she figured her friends there may just be getting breakfast.

Corrine suddenly poofed in front of her. "I don't want to go in."

"Come on Corrine, this is for Anna, we won't be there long, I swear."

Corrine sniffed the air, her three tails straight up in concentration. "Something's not right in this town, do you feel it?"

Sheena looked around her. There were some elderly people taking their morning walks... nothing seemed out of place. "You're just pulling my leg, trying to get an excuse, Corrine. I don't see anything wrong."

A small girl walked by her, pulling a large log by some rope.

That tree must be pretty light, Sheena thought, as the girl pulled it up the first flight of stairs without much problem. "Okay, I've never seen her before, but still, I never woke up this early in the morning to walk around outside, either."

Without further word she pushed the large doors to the lab, but the doors were locked.

"What? They're never locked..." Sheena knocked on the door. Then pounded on the door. Finally she kicked the door, but no one came to open the door. "Is there nobody inside?"

An elderly couple looked at her interestedly. "Young lady, the lab has been shut down for at least a couple weeks already by decree of the King."

Sheena looked horrified. "He opened the lab! Why would he close it down?? There was so much research going on!"

The elderly man shook his head and said very quietly, "Ever since the king took ill this past few months, this city has lost much of its luster. The Pope rules in his stead since the Chosen disappeared, and many laws have been passed."

"The Chosen disappeared??" Sheena tried not to scream. She just saw him yesterday... but then he had been at the base for a while... "He always carries a notifier if he is ever needed in Meltokio! He can't just disappear!"

"We don't know the details," the elderly woman said. "We were just told that he has abandoned us. Perhaps his butler may know more, you are a friend of the Chosen are you not? I think I have seen you with him a few times. You could possibly go to that part of town and ask the butler."

"Um, uh, yeah..." Sheena hardly ever went to Zelos' mansion. If she wasn't getting insulted by the rich girls around there, she had to suffer all the saccharine talk that Zelos and them exchange. Though maybe it was early enough in the morning that they aren't walking the streets...

Sheena bowed. "Thank you very much."

The elderly man walked over and whispered in her ear, "Another word of caution, young lady. Do not offend the Pope in any way, be it talk or action. The lab was shut down because they were at odds. Remember that."

As Sheena walked up the second flight of stairs toward the mansions, she saw the little girl drag the giant log to the church.

Thankfully there were no simpering ladies about, so she quickly rang the chime to Zelos' mansion. His butler opened the door.

"Miss Sheena, what a surprise! I am sorry but the Master is not here. But please, do come in and stay for morning tea in the parlor, Miss Sheena."

As she was being led by Sebastian to the more private parlor in the back, she took a look around. All the windows had their curtains drawn. She remembered the mansion being bright and sunny whenever she did come to visit. This whole situation was making her feel more and more unnerved.

"Mr. Sebastian, do you have any idea where Zelos might have gone?"

"The King made an urgent call for the Master to come to the castle yesterday evening. He stopped by here briefly first before going."

"I see... I was told by some people walking outside that he was declared missing and had abandoned his duties. How long has that been going?"

"Many weeks, I'm afraid... Please take a seat, Miss Sheena. A plate of tea and pastries will be coming shortly."

Sheena nodded awkwardly as she sat down at a more modestly decorated table. This room was normally full of sunlight from the large windows that made up the walls. Now with the curtains drawn, the only light came from the many lamps set alongside the walls.

After sitting awkwardly for what seemed forever (which in reality, really was about ten minutes), a pretty maid with her blonde hair tied behind her came in with a tray.

"I'm very sorry for the delay, ma'am. The pastries just come from the oven fresh."

"It's okay...thank you..." Sheena said uncomfortably as the maid set the tray on the table next to her. Sheena wasn't a person to stare at people, espeically girls, but she found herself a bit curious about the maid.

Then the maid turned to her with a wide smile. "Is there anything else I can get for you, ma'am?"

Sheena stared at her closely. She looked familiar... "Have we met somewhere?"

"I'm new here, ma'am, I just started yesterday," the maid replied with a wink.

Wink? Suddenly Sheena jumped out of her chair, lost her balance, and collapsed on the ground. "Zelos??"

"Shhh! Get off the ground, this isn't funny!"

"Wow, you're beautiful! You'd make your hunnies jealous if you got out of that maid costume! And what happened to your hair??"

"Shut it, Sheena, why are you here??" Zelos asked quickly.

"I was going to the Elemental Labs to search for something for Anna, but they were closed. And some passerby's mentioned that the Chosen's been missing. Naturally I had to come investigate. What is going on?"

"I was called back yesterday on an emergency call by the King. But something didn't feel right when I passed over the city on the Rheiard. It was way darker at night than it usually is. So I took my 'alternate' route to get in the city and back in my house before anyone noticed. Thank Martel for my excellent instincts, from what Sebastian has been telling me, I would have been lamb to the slaughter had I walked into the castle..."

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**Yes, it has been a while since I updated... but YOU STILL GOTTA REVIEW TO KEEP ME GOING! **

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	29. Chapter 29: Of Unwelcome Surprises

**Chapter 29, don't think that took toooo long! Hope you guys are still with me! So, read, enjoy, review, comment, suggest, anything! Stay with me!!**

**Tales of Symphonia I do not own.**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 29: Of Unwelcome Surprises

Sheena sat at the dining table, a lemon tart halfway to her mouth.

"This is a bold move by the pope." She put the tart back down on the plate. "I'm surprised no one stopped me from going through the gates. The guards didn't seem to care, as they usually don't..."

Suddenly she stood up. "I need to leave, they might have targeted me. I hardly saw anyone in the streets... they might think it's suspicious that I came here!"

Zelos laughed and told her to sit down. "What're you talking about, girls come into my house all the time, it's totally normal! Quit freaking out, it'll be fine."

"No, I need to leave, I may have stayed here too--"

The doorbell rang, followed by pounding on the door.

Zelos stared in the direction of the sound, and then back at Sheena. "They came earlier, Sebastian convinced them I wasn't here."

"Good thing you dyed your hair and even bothered to add curls to it," Sheena said sarcastically. "Wait, let me stuff some more napkins in your bra, you don't look well-endowed enough."

They edged to the door of the room and listened. They could hear the conversation take an angry turn.

"Okay, maybe you're right," Zelos said.

"Get out of here, go to the kitchen or the maid's room or something, hurry!"

"But--"

"Go!!" Sheena hissed, and pushed the (now buxom) maid out the door.

The sound of Sebastian's voice was getting closer through the connecting corridors, and she could make out that he was yelling at them for breaking and entering. He also kept repeating that the lady in question was just a guest who wanted to enquire about his master.

After seeing the flash of Zelos' skirt round the corner down the hall toward the servant quarters, she left the door open and quickly went back to her seat and took a bite out of her lemon tart.

A giant papal guard marched in with Sebastian shaking his head behind him.

"You!" The guard grunted.

Sheena got out of her seat, a very confused and concerned look on her face. "Why, what's wrong? Sebastian, did something happen?! Wait what are you doing?? What's going on??"

She could now hear that other guards were searching the house. From the sound of it, at least four or five. The guard next to her said nothing in reply and just grabbed her left arm, nearly taking her off the floor. She was half walking, half being dragged out, making her angry. Her right hand reached for her cards, but quickly withdrew. She can't make a scene right now in the house.

So instead, she beat the guard's arm with her fist and screamed in his ear to let her go, that he was hurting her, and that she be entitled to a lawyer.

"Mi-Miss _Nina_, I am extremely sorry and embarrassed! Why are you taking her? She has done nothing! Where are you taking her?"

Sheena looked behind her and gave Sebastian something of an assuring smile before resuming her high-pitched screams directed in the guard's right ear.

The sounds of guards sacking the mansion could still be heard as she was dragged into the still early morning sun. Sheena could only hope that Zelos' disguise will be good enough. Before she knew it, the guard punched the wind out of her, and she blacked out.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Yuan really was rendered speechless and pacing aimlessly around the room. And it didn't take a spell either to make him silent. He really wanted to bash his head against the wall. Or find a pot of cold water to pour over his head to wake him up from this bad dream.

Kratos tapped the armrest of his chair impatiently. He sat at a large round table in a conference room looking across at Mithos, who didn't seem all that perturbed. Anna and Lloyd sat to his left, while Colette, Raine, and Genis sat to his right. No one looked particularly happy to be there.

"Look, I'm sorry, honestly..." Anna repeated.

"Hey, mom, it's not your fault. I'm sure Sheena will come back soon," Lloyd said yawning.

"That Chosen is getting worse and worse about disappearing off without notice! I need to just put a collar on that damn boy!" Yuan yelled.

There was a knock on the door before it opened. A Renegade guard stood at attention after he stepped through.

"Sir, there were no sightings of the Chosen or Sheena at Altamira. We have checked it thoroughly, sir."

"Meltokio?"

"They have not returned yet sir."

"Well, it is further away, I'll give them that. The hot springs??"

"Sir, the hot springs are closed for renovation, sir."

"Oh right. Flanoir? Sybak? Mizuho?"

"Negative, sir, Flanoir has been searched completely. No word from Sybak yet, and Mizuho reports no changes."

"Thank you, you may leave."

After the soldier left, Yuan exploded.

"Curfews on any child twenty and under! And accountability every night! You'll all line up at attention, too, 2200 on the dot in my office, dammit!"

"What!" Lloyd and Genis yelled. Colette merely frowned like it really was her fault. Mithos looked at Yuan carefully.

"Just remember Yuan, some children appear older than they actually are," Mithos said quickly. Genis looked at him, confused at the strange statement.

"Yeah, but you look twelve, too bad."

Mithos chewed his lip. "Well _you_ act twelve, I--"

Kratos stood up. "No Explosions. No Indignations. Let us get back on track and not squabble about age. Now, I have some faith that the Chosen may have left for reasons of his own, and most probably is in Meltokio, the one place you haven't heard back from. As for Sheena, she could honestly still be searching for the unicorn horn and is currently in Meltokio or Sybak. It has been about thirteen hours since they left, I would give them the full twenty-four hours before getting more worried."

Kratos sat back down and Yuan finally did as well, between Mithos and Lloyd.

"A unicorn horn, I should have known," Kratos said, shaking his head.

"It wouldn't have helped much, Kratos, neither of us would have been able to use the unicorn horn anyway."

Raine and Anna looked up, surprised. "Why?"

"The unicorn horn can only be used by someone with considerable knowledge of the healing arts. If Kratos or I were hypothetically given one, it would be like giving a book of spells to a human who can't sense mana. Of course, as a half-elf, I could study the white arts for the next ten years and come to understand the properties of the unicorn horn, but..."

"Wait, define 'considerable knowledge'," Raine said.

"Understanding the fundamental flow of mana in the white arts and how to manipulate it. It's not as simple as knowing how to cast 'first aid' or even a 'healing stream' for that matter. Only when you truly understand the flow, can you start to learn higher level white magic. Boltzman was _the_ pioneering master in the elven healing arts. I remember being taught that he basically came up with the whole study of the white arts," Yuan said.

Raine perked up. "You were taught that? Where?" She remembered being taught that too...

"Oh, back when I was in Heimdall as a kid... you know, where elves live and stuff."

Heimdall? The village of the elves? Raine's heart stopped. Flashes of a shady wooded forest went through her head. She wanted to ask more, but stopped herself.

"A village of elves?" Genis asked curiously. "Raine and me have always been searching for real elves but we never found any. In Sylvarant, anyway."

"Yeah it's not in Sylvarant. Elves aren't terribly friendly, by the way, they did kick me out at some point. _Anyway_, I don't feel like talking about those xenophobes. Point is, unicorns must've hated Boltzman, since he had to get himself a considerable number of horns to study... and only one unicorn ever exists at one time."

Mithos sat up. "And they're always born at the bottom of some lake for some reason, so you need Undine to drain the lake. I swear they have a personal bargain with each other. Oh, and by the way, only maidens can approach a unicorn, because it hates men."

"Probably Boltzman's fault. So, yes, there it is, first you need someone able to summon Undine, then have an innocent girl in your group, and someone who is skilled in the white arts to even use the unicorn horn. Easy?"

"Sheena can summon Undine!" Lloyd said happily. "I'm sure Raine teacher can figure out how to use a unicorn horn, since she knows everything."

"Excuse me? I do not know everything! Or I would not always be in pursuit of knowledge! But I have been studying the healing arts, though I don't know if I am of a certain 'considerable knowledge' or not."

"Yeah that's kind of up to the unicorn to decide, I guess..." Yuan said.

"Colette can be the girl that meets the unicorn!" Genis said. "You're the Chosen, you can't get more pure than that!"

"Ugh, Zelos is a Chosen too... and I'd hardly call--"

There was a knock on the door, and a Renegade soldier excused himself.

"Sir, we just had our report from Sybak, and it was a shocking one. The grand library in Sybak was brutally raided late in the night a few days ago. The auxiliary royal guard of fifty that came on scene as soon as the alarm sounded were wiped out in matter of minutes. Residents who came out later found the building wrecked and bodies torn apart in grisly ways. And sir, there were no reports of Sheena anywhere in the vicinity either."

Everyone looked at the soldier as if he himself was the gruesome monster. The man shifted uneasily.

"Any reports on what this man looks like?" Yuan asked.

"The only reports we could get of his appearance were from some villagers who hid but observed the massacre from afar. All they could say was that the man was swathed in dark clothes but held a sword-shaped creature with an eye that glowed evil at its hilt. From what we could gather, it seems there was a dark chest in the library that no one ever could figure out how to open. The fact that this man could open it, raised much speculation and fear. "

"So this man is now on the loose."

"Yes, sir, the village is in desperate need of aid, but they have not heard any word from the King. All messages have gone unanswered."

"I see, if more details arise, let us know," Yuan said, and the soldier left.

"What could that be about? Do you ever remember seeing a chest at the library before?" Yuan asked.

"I don't really recall, but I think I vaguely remember seeing something in the recesses of the back wall. Whether it was a chest, I can't say for sure." Kratos answered.

"I'm guessing this guy isn't Lord Yig?" Lloyd asked, leaning his chair back.

"I don't think Mithos or Yggdrasil liked to use any weapons at all. So unless he's had a drastic change of opinions, I sincerely doubt it is him." Kratos looked at Mithos, who looked extremely troubled. "What is it?"

"Do you remember running across of the legends of the underworld? You know, when we were researching the Crystals?" Mithos asked worriedly.

"What about them? I thought the Elves had taken care of that threat a long time ago," Yuan said.

"No, of course not! They destroyed as much as they could, but there's always some hidden somewhere."

"Underworld? There's an underworld?" Genis asked, surprised.

Mithos nodded. "There were numerous battles dealing with the underworld and the gods and angels of old eons ago. The underworld were finally divided into sealed tomes hidden throughout the world. One of them was the anima of the lord of the underworld. However, his power was sealed into weapons called the Devil's Arms."

"Those were ancient myths," Raine said. "Religions of civilizations long gone. I don't think they really existed though... There were never any records or evidence found about them."

Mithos shrugged and sighed. "Myth or not, a living weapon that emanates evil and kills fifty guards in a matter of minutes sounds like something that could be a Devil Arm. I'm more curious about the man that wielded the weapon. How'd he know the chest held that? And how did he open it? Who could he be?"

"I think we won't get anywhere just by musing over it," Kratos said. "I wanted to go to Sybak anyway to do some research on adamantite at the academy.

"I want to go too!" Lloyd piped up.

"Why?"

"I dunno, um, volunteer to help clean up?" Lloyd said. Mostly he was just curious about the murder scene.

"Well that's unusually kind of you," Genis said sarcastically. "Well if you go, I wanna go too. A university town sounds awesome."

"Alright, whoever wants to go, be my guest. Half-elves need to be extra careful, however. Tethe'alla is even more aggressively anti-half-elf, so keep your profile low."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Sebastian waited about thirty minutes after the papal guards left before going to the kitchen. When he got there, he saw a very relieved crowd of house servants surrounding a maid. When the maid looked up and saw Sebastian, she excused herself to talk to Sebastian in the privacy of a hallway.

"What happened?" Zelos asked, as he picked out a half-bleached strand of rusty-colored hair he just noticed.

"I'm very sorry, Master, but Miss Sheena was taken. I do not know where. Many items in the house have been broken and much is in disarray. It should not take long to have the house the way it was before, however," Sebastian said proudly, then less formally, "I am relieved to see that the papal guards could not see through your disguise, Master..."

"Yeah, I wasn't all that worried, they're not that bright. Did Sheena at least take down any of them?"

"I assume Miss Sheena wisely did not choose to do so. There were at least six papal guards in the manse. If she fought one, she would have had to fight six. That was how I understood it. Miss Sheena acted very unlike herself, perhaps to protect herself and you."

"Really..." Zelos grinned slightly. "Well, this just makes it all the more complicated doesn't it, Sebastian. Man, why did she have to come now? What a pain."

"Master..."

"Yeeeah, I know, if I don't find her, she'll find some way to escape and I'll never be at peace for the rest of my life. Now, what I'm wondering is why they took her in the first place. Oh, maybe they're trying to lure me out, that would be a surprise. Actually, this isn't such a pain. I should just let her figure out how to escape since I'm sure she can, and just go back to Flanoir."

"At least think of Princess Hilda and the letter, Master... I don't think any woe should befall you if you are personally invited by the princess to the prayer to be held for the King's health. Yesterday was truly a fake call from the pope, but the ceremony today is a big affair, it would be unwise for the Pope to try anything."

"And after the ceremony? If I stay here any longer, he'll have my head for real."

Sebastian sighed. It really wasn't his place as a butler to tell his master to think otherwise, but then as a guardian who took care of Zelos since childhood, he still pressed on a little longer.

"What of your earlier plans of infiltrating the palace to find the Princess before the ceremony?"

Zelos didn't reply. He really had not come up with any good plan, which was why he was thinking about just abandoning the whole noble nonsense of saving the princess... and now Sheena. He hated the pope, and the pope always hated him. He would dearly like to deal a blow to the old man but right now the odds were stacked against him, and Zelos did not like it. Not to mention, it was Sheena's job to do the sneaking around, not him.

Zelos let out a heavy sigh and faced the gathered group of servants.

"Who goes and takes care of buying produce and stuff?"

The head housemaid and a burly footman raised their hands.

"Okay, well I'm going to tag along with you guys and take a look around town."

"Sir, we've done our morning sh--"

"Well, you forgot something, let's go."

"W-we would change our clothes to go to town first, sir."

Sebastian spoke to Zelos. "I will get a proper plain dress for you, master."

It was then, that Zelos truly realized he honestly had no idea how his house worked at all, and knew virtually nothing about the servants that served him. He felt a little disconcerted about it, maybe he should get to know everyone better and not find some papal spy hanging around one day...

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**Uh oh, a new enemy! Yes, there are things that aren't total canon, like hey, just what is going on in Sybak?? And yes, Abyssian's got something of a bigger role than 'just the homeless dude on the corner.' P**

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	30. Chapter 30: Under the Gaze of Stars

**Apologies for the wait! I had written various versions of this chapter, and in the end, I decided to make it solely a Lloyd and Kratos chapter. Yeah, Zelos is still chilling as a maid in Meltokio and enjoying it quite well. ) He'll come back next chapter along with some "new" characters! Hmmm who could they be!**

**I is not own Tales of Symphonia.**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 30: Under the Gaze of Stars

"Lloyd?"

Lloyd turned his head from the stars toward the direction of his father's voice. He had heard the light crunching on the warm desert sands, and warm, familiar mana signature of his father seconds before Kratos had even spoken. Noishe who lay to his right, merely cocked his left ear at the sound. Lloyd laid against the rocks at the foot of the rugged cliffside that hugged the Renegade base, his arms crossed behind his head.

"Lloyd, why are you here by yourself?" Kratos asked, as he sat next Lloyd and Noishe, and mindlessly gave his old protozoan friend a rub on the head.

"I'm not really by myself," Lloyd protested. "don't you see the soldiers walking around the lookout?"

"Cheeky boy," Kratos shook his head with a slight grin. "Does something bother you?"

"Not really, I noticed there was no moon out today when I went to go see Noishe. I'd forgotten how bright the stars were so I just took him out to find the best spot to see them."

"The stars truly are brilliant today, we have not come to see the stars in the long time, have we?"

"No, we haven't... It makes me think of home," Lloyd frowned and let out a sigh.

"You miss the house at Dirk's?"

"Just... back then. Home. Things just seemed so much more peaceful back then, you know."

Kratos looked over. "Was it, though? The Desian Ranch loomed over us, as a constant reminder that people are still suffering."

"I know... but I almost miss just going to school with Genis and Colette. I mean, I don't miss the homework or class or anything..."

"Without homework or class, you can hardly call it school, Lloyd." Kratos reached over and ruffled Lloyd's hair, making both of them laugh.

"Yeah true... but—yeah... by the way, Colette told me earlier that she needed to go back to Iselia, so she won't be going with us to Sybak tomorrow. Now, I don't want to go to Sybak either. I know those old geezers at the Martel Temple are supposed to go with her on her Journey, but they're so old they look like they're gonna croak without having to go through any trials."

Kratos smiled in spite of himself. He had a point. Yggdrasil couldn't understand why Sylvarant couldn't dig up a good Chosen for so long, but he also never bothered to investigate either. The Chosens were always followed by a group of priests, by default. In a way, the only way it could work would be if either the Chosen was well versed in battle, or the priests had to be. Which, well, neither were ever good enough.

"You do have a point, Lloyd."

"Colette will still do her Journey, right? Then afterwards, she becomes an angel, right? Like us?"

Kratos lost his smile and sighed. Noishe let out a big sigh as well, blowing a layer of sand away from him. "Did you forget already, Lloyd, what gives me, Uncle Yuan, Mithos, and your mother these powers? They come from these advanced exspheres. How do you think Colette would become an 'angel'?"

Lloyd looked at the twinkling stars, thinking of Colette's sad face when she said she was going back. He always thought it could be a fun journey, but she never said anything.

"You're right, dad, I don't even know if she wants to be an angel. I guess I always thought it was some magical transformation..." Lloyd said sadly. "I do remember her saying she was born with a _Cruxis Crystal_ in her hand that is now being kept in the Martel Temple. She was supposed to get it back when she was to start her journey to become an angel."

"The Cruxis Crystal will stop the aging process as well, a serious consideration for those with a choice. One can live to be thousands of years old if not forever. Some people crave immortality, some see it as a curse."

Lloyd looked at his dad, who was now staring at the stars with a grim look.

"Dad... so you never did tell me where you got the Crystals from... remember? It was supposed to be for after a test, but I've taken plenty already these past few months!"

"Plenty? You mean the _quizzes?_" Kratos laughed. "Well it's not your fault that Raine doesn't have time to be preparing full-fledged tests for you all... and I think I saw her working on your next quiz on geometric shapes and triangles. Have you been studying?"

"What, we've been so busy doing more important things! I don't have time to study! I don't see how knowing the difference between an obtuse angle and acute angle is going to help fight the Yig and save the world!"

"What is an obtuse angle?"

"Some fat angle!"

"Let's elaborate on that and I'll tell you more."

"It's got some fat angle—I mean an angle more than 90 degrees."

Kratos turned his head and looked at Lloyd in mild surprise. Granted, he apparently hadn't been falling asleep in the spare time Raine had been able to squeeze a few lessons in... He suddenly realized he hadn't really been following up on Lloyd's performance in 'school,' either. Raine hadn't said anything to him...

"That's...that's right, Lloyd."

"See, I know my stuff."

"I see..." Kratos replied, rather impressed that Lloyd really had grown in confidence in his intelligence since that last test so long ago where he nearly aced it. Lloyd himself had been surprised at what he was capable of, and since then, he had made it a point never to believe himself as stupid anymore. He never said anything nor showed his parents how he did on the small quizzes he had been given. Come to think of it, Kratos thought slightly abashed, he as a father was rather neglecting to mind his son's education, and instead, made sure Lloyd kept up with his sword skills.

"No, Lloyd, an obtuse angle most probably will not stop Yggdrasil, but knowledge is always essential to deal with various, unexpected situations. Mathematics played a huge role in the advancement of science and technology. This base could not be built by someone who had no knowledge of math. Dirk would have a hard time finding the right ratios of different metal alloys or other important components without knowledge of math either."

"Okay, yeah I get it," Lloyd said, remembering when he would help Dirk with little things in his underground shop. Measuring parts and pieces of metal plates was more interesting before the word 'math' entered the process.

"Well, you deserve to know more about ourselves, so I will answer your question the best way I can. The Crystals that Yuan, Mithos, and I have come from ancient ruin we found many, many years ago."

Kratos paused as he noticed a constellation that had not changed even since the day they found the crystals.

"Is that all??" Lloyd asked, rather displeased. "Wait, you said the Crystal can stop aging... so how old are you, dad?"

Kratos really didn't look very happy about that question. Noishe raised his head, whining slightly.

"What's wrong, Noishe?" Lloyd asked, rubbing Noishe on the snout.

"Now, Lloyd, things have been happening in a very unplanned manner, and I think you haven't quite pieced the information and secrets together. Tell me, Lloyd, we were rather hurried at Derris-Kharlan and didn't explain ourselves very well, but who do you think is Mithos?"

"Genis' friend? Um, Yig's alter ego... Has no magic anymore, but has all the pacts of the summon spirits--almost all... hey... is he... is he _Mithos_, the hero? That's a joke, he's like 12 years old."

"What'd I tell you about the Cruxis Crystals?"

"O-oh, yeah..."

"Actually Mithos is seventeen physically, but he was rather mal-nutrioned as a kid, so he looks much younger than he is."

"So—but... Mithos the hero existed like 4000 years ago! You can't tell me, he's more than 4000 years old!"

"That he is, though he wasn't fully conscious of most of it, to be honest."

"Raine said the hero had three companions, one of which was human..."

"Goodness, Lloyd, you _have_ been listening in class."

"Uh, I dunno, I usually don't remember stuff like that, except now... But, wait, so... so Dad, are you more than 4000 years old...?"

"You can say that."

"And Uncle Yuan, too??"

"That is true. We're quite old, though to be fully honest, we were not fully conscious of the past few thousands of years. You see, Lloyd, the Cruxis Crystal generally robs you of your emotions, rendering you to something akin to a robot, unable to form opinions. Though for Mithos, he was split into two personalities. You could say they were rather ironic side effects for the sake of something akin to immortality." Kratos said, looking at Lloyd seriously. "The happy, caring, loving side of Mithos was quickly dominated by the side of hatred and grief after her sister's death. Neither Yuan or I could stop Yggdrasil, the angry side, of forming the ruthless plans he had later implemented. It wasn't until both of us were somehow shocked out of our mental state that we regained our emotions, what it means to be human, and truly be alive again."

"How come it took 4000 years for you guys to be okay again?" Lloyd untangled his arms and gave his father undivided attention.

"Cruxis Crystals are not well understood and will possibly never really be fully understood. Perhaps the Crystal's hold on our mental state had weakened enough for a shocking event to break it. Yuan had regained his senses about decades before I did when he saw a fellow half-elf getting beaten by a mob of other half-elves. Then he wasted no time in forming his Renegade resistance with Uncle Botta, who was the half-elf he saved. Whatever the case, I did not come back to my senses until I saw..." Kratos looked reluctant to continue as he moved his gaze back to the stars again.

"Yes?" Lloyd said, after waiting in silence for what he deemed, was way too long.

Kratos realized he actually wasn't too sure what Lloyd knew or didn't know. He made a mental note to talk to Anna about what each of them had told him so they don't repeat themselves or say anything the other didn't want him to know. And this was the one time Kratos really didn't know if Anna would want Lloyd to know what had happened at Luin.

"Was it that awful? Come on, dad!"

"I came to my senses when I saw..." Kratos couldn't figure out how to water down what he saw and really wanted to just end the conversation. However, he knew he wasn't going to have any peace until he finished his sentence in a satisfactory manner. "...when I saw the death of your grandparents."

Sadly, Kratos' attempt to find some watered down way to explain the event, only made Lloyd more confused and curious.

"Lloyd, I need to ask your mom something. Just wait a moment."

So Lloyd waited outside and crossed his arms behind his head again as he thought of what his dad had told him. He felt...strange. He hadn't taken his wings out in a long time and he really felt like stretching them out. He was an angel without a Cruxis Crystal because both of his parents have to suffer for him to naturally have it. What else was passed down? Immortality? Then he would have just been born a baby and stayed a baby if that was the case. How much longer will he keep growing? Well, Lloyd mused with a grin, at least this means he should be able to live as long as Genis! Lloyd started to mull on a way to take out his wings without the blast of mana energy that comes with, alarming the whole Desian populace where he was. It seemed an oxymoron (new vocabulary word from the last lesson), but he thought about it anyway.

His dad had still not come back in what seemed an eternity to Lloyd. Maybe he forgot to come back? Or maybe they got into some argument. However, Lloyd took off one of his swords with the sheath and was busily occupying his time scrawling his ideas into the sand.

By the time Kratos came back, he saw Lloyd engrossed in scratching stuff in the sand with the sheath of one of his swords. Curious, he walked behind Lloyd to see what he was doing. What he saw was the spell to hide mana signature (_Incognition_) written out and being re-written in various different ways. There was also what seemed like a new spell Lloyd was making up based on _Incognition_. Kratos was about to drop his jaw in shock, but remained looking as cool as he could be. His son really was _much_ smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for. Maybe he was just a late-bloomer after all.

"Re-diverting mana energy?" Kratos asked with a grin, looking at the spell Lloyd was trying to come up with. "Something of that magnitude would be impossible for us to employ, Lloyd."

Lloyd looked at the messy code he had quickly scrawled in the sand. He felt rather impressed with himself, whether it was possible or not. He had seen Genis try to make up spells, and it seemed rather fun though he had never actually tried.

"That's the point, dad," Lloyd explained as he pointed to a section of the code. "See, so much energy comes from forming the wings and gets blown far and wide, alerting everyone. There's got to be a way to keep the excess and direct it back to ourselves. I mean, maybe we would even be able to cast a higher-level spell for _Incognition_ with that energy."

Kratos made a gesture for the sheath and Lloyd gave it up willingly. He bent down and corrected certain runes and crossed out others. Then he inserted a few extra words and runes in various places. "What you had was very good, Lloyd. Maybe you should get a piece of paper and write this down, then we can see if any other parts need work."

With a grin, Lloyd shot off toward the base and came out with pen and paper almost immediately. After it was all safely scribbled down, including notes and corrected mistakes, he folded the paper and kept it in his pocket.

"So what'd you have to talk to mom about?" Lloyd reminded his dad cheerfully.

Kratos was still looking at the scrawl of the new spell that was slowly being blown away by the wind. "I received your mother's permission to tell you how I regained my senses from the Cruxis Crystal."

"Oh...why didn't mom want to come out and watch the stars, too?"

"She's recuperating from our discussion..." Kratos said vaguely. "...not to mention she doesn't want to relive that part of her life out here with you."

Lloyd didn't have much to say to that, so Kratos continued. "You do know that your mother was being kept as a special prisoner in the Asgard Human Ranch, do you not?"

Based on the wide-eyed surprise that registered on Lloyd's face, he felt like smacking himself for keeping Lloyd in the dark for so long. "Most of the prisoners in the Ranches are there to form various levels of ex-spheres, like the one you have on. To form these things, the more hardships you suffer, the faster it feeds on you. However, to form a Cruxis Crystal, it takes more than that, and the Cardinal of that ranch, Kvar, was trying to form one for himself, using your mother. During that time, I had been sent to Luin for some inspection and was wandering around mindlessly gathering information."

Kratos sat down against the rock Lloyd had leaned against. Lloyd sat in his dad's old place and petted Noishe, who curled his tail around Lloyd.

"As I wandered around town during some night, I heard commotion and went to go see. I saw Kvar and a group of Desians heading toward a house at the far end of town. It was not my place to interfere, and this was regarded strictly as information gathering. Perhaps about fifteen minutes later, a girl wearing the dirty rags of a ranch prisoner appeared, apparently on the run and heading for the same house. When I got in for a closer look in the house, what I saw... was... just utter carnage. The Desians not only killed this family, but continued to...butcher them in an absolutely unspeakable...manner. For the first time in ages, a feeling of absolute nausea had gripped me. What made it worse was when your mother entered the house and saw the scene. You can imagine how she must have felt to see her whole family...in that state. Apparently, Kvar had set this whole horrific tragedy for your mother just so her Cruxis Crystal would speed up the process and perhaps mutate into a more powerful form."

Though somewhat aware that Lloyd looked as if he was about to throw up, he continued as if he had gone back to that time and forgotten about him. "Your mother was so overwrought with shock and despair that she didn't even seem to realize that Kvar had showed up with his men to re-capture her. He cried more unneeded insults which provoked your mother even more... but in the end they took her back to the ranch. After they left, I could not move, so overcome with emotions I had not felt in thousands of years. No one on that street dared to come out or pretend anything had happened. When I looked back through the window, the grisly scene was still there, it wasn't a dream. I felt so horrified, so angry, so miserable... I decided to take the burden upon myself to see that they were properly pieced and buried honorably. As I tried to clean the house afterwards, I saw a picture of the whole family and took it to remind myself just who and where I was. Then without hesitation, I went to go break your mother out of the ranch."

By now, Lloyd had been staring at a small rock in the distance in complete shock. Then he blinked a few tears away, and asked, "Wait, you just rescued mom like that?"

"It required plenty of planning... which rather allowed me to get to know your mother quite well," Kratos answered as looked at the stars in an almost dreamy fashion. "Anyhow, the sky is lightening, we should head back soon."

"Mom... that's so awful... she did tell me a long time ago that the one Desian that deserved to die was killed by you, is that right?"

"Kvar was a twisted being, half-elf or not. I still do not condone killing anyone, but for him... may he continue to burn in the underworld."

Lloyd looked at his dad's face a little fearfully, he'd never seen his dad look so scary before. Whoever Kvar was, Lloyd was glad he was gone, and it seemed his dad disposed of him quite well. He had always known there was a terrible secret pain that his mother hid inside. Now he almost regretted knowing what it was. More than ever, Lloyd vowed to himself, he would do everything to make his mom happy.

"We're going to Sybak later right?"

"That was the intention," Kratos replied, standing up and brushing off sand.

"Can I go back to Iselia with Colette?"

"I probably won't stay too long in Sybak. I'm sure Raine and Genis would like to come with you to see Colette as well, so just come with us first then, we'll all go back to Iselia together."

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**Hope you enjoyed it! I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I think I might expand around the end a bit later, but for now it's up! **

**REVIEW! Thanks everyone!**


	31. Chapter 31: Little White Crimes

**WHOA, NO WAY, CYATHULA'S STILL ALIVE?? Yes folks, I did not abandon this story, though I'm afraid many of you guys have probably forgotten about OoH already! sob, sob... anyway, I had to do some serious rewriting, rethinking, and replotting. I hope this will not disappoint!**

**Read, Review, Rejoice!**

**I don't own Tales, alas...**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 31: Little White Crimes

Dresses really made Zelos appreciate being male. Dresses were such a pain to put on, and the fancier it was, the worst. Thankfully, he had some choices and he picked the plainest and easiest one to wear. It did make him actually think about just how long his hunnies have to take to get ready...

"Um, Sera, right?" Zelos said, looking at the nervous maid he was going to accompany for another 'grocery run'. The maid nodded, unable to get herself to say anything.

"And... Lancer." The burly footman nodded, displaying little nervousness if any.

"Sir, we are to call you Juliet, is that right, sir?"

"That's right! Please no 'sirs' or 'master' or anything, okay? If I hear either of those, I'll slap you hard," Zelos replied, a little too happily.

"Y-yes, s—" They abruptly cut off together and looked at each other.

So Zelos walked out the back door of his house for the Meltokio streets. It was an odd feeling to not have people running up to him, or greeting him, or bowing to him, or whatever. For a second, he was rather upset that no one was acknowledging him at all.

As they walked toward the markets, Zelos took note of his surroundings in a way he never did before. Meltokio still had some people strolling around the streets, minding their business or nodding at Sera and Lancer in greeting. There was a strange, loud scratching sound coming from the steps that led down to the city markets and residences.

"Have you seen that girl before?" Zelos asked, looking over at a small pink-haired girl who was pulling a giant log up the stairs to the royal and noble quarters. Her head was down as if she had memorized her path already and found interest only in the ground beneath her.

Lancer looked over at the pink-haired girl. "We saw her this morning, si—it was the first time I've seen her. Rumors say there's to be a private prayer for the king's health tonight at the church. The nobles are all invited and you we—"

"How does she carry such a heavy log by herself?" Zelos interrupted. "Come on, I want to talk to her."

The two servants trudged behind him, not entirely keen on the dour-faced girl. The girl just cleared the stairs when Zelos reached her and asked if she needed any help. However, he might as well have talked to the log, as the girl continued on without saying anything or acknowledging his presence.

Now, Zelos wasn't happy about that. Servant or no, she was impossibly rude to ignore him like that. He turned around and put his hand on her shoulder, but in a flash of a second he jumped backwards and tripped on the edge of his dress as a giant axe came swinging out of nowhere quick as lightning from the right. After crashing down painfully on his tailbone, he quickly rolled into a defensive position and saw her eyes. Her eyes were completely devoid of emotion and were of an unnaturally blood-red color for her iris. Then he saw it, a Cruxis Crystal was imbedded in her chest, just under her collarbone.

"Do not impede my work," she intoned, staring not quite at Zelos, but seemingly through him. After a brief pause, the girl sidestepped Zelos and continued on pulling the log with her left hand and holding the axe in the other.

Sera and Lancer rushed over towards Zelos, helping him up.

"Si—are you alright? I was so afraid! I didn't notice she had an axe at all!"

"Good Martel, that is one grouchy girl..." Zelos muttered. He was bothered by the fact that she had a Cruxis Crystal. He had one, but he was the Chosen. Not to mention, he wasn't going to wear it until some special day or something. And, he realized, he didn't see a key crest on her... it was imbedded in her skin. He had never seen that before. The way the crystal was forced through the skin was sickening.

"It was the exsphere I had. Without that boost in reaction time, I would've been in two pieces by now." Zelos said as he looked at the receding figure of the girl sadly. She didn't have a keycrest... and her strange attitude, he'd never encountered anyone so robotic before. Kratos and Yuan had both said at some point, that without a keycrest, an exsphere or Cruxis Crystal would turn parasitic.

"What's going on here??"

Zelos looked up and saw a guard standing over him. One of the palace guards that guarded the castle entrance.

"Nothing, sir... I just accidently bumped into that little girl... and she... didn't like it, apparently," Zelos said, in his best shaky, scared tone.

"Lucky you didn't get cut in half. Another well-meaning man couple days ago wasn't quite so lucky. We try to warn everyone, but of course no one remembers or listens to us! That girl, she barely comes here but about once a year. I tell ya, one strange little girl. How she drags that log is beyond me. Curtis—that's the guard on night shift—told me he heard she's a zombie. Them red eyes and never says hi to nobody. I'd stay well away from her and that tree-trunk of an axe she carries."

"I didn't even see the axe until afterwards!" Sera said, hand still covering her mouth in shock.

The guard thought about it for a moment. "S'pose you're right, she just whips it outta nowhere. Maybe them sacred wood is lighter than it looks."

"Sacred wood?" Zelos said curiously, no longer interested in nursing his tailbone.

"Yeah, she come from Ozette all the way draggin' that log. I bet her axe's about just as sacred. I guess the pope needs an extra lot this time around, she's been comin' around with logs all day."

"Do you know what the sacred wood is for?" Zelos asked sweetly.

"Yeah, this time she had to bring extra for his highness' get-well ceremony. Maybe they burn it or pray to it or somthin', I dunno. Big rumor has it the Chosen won't bother to be there I'm sure you've heard. The king's not happy and poor princess Hilda just cries all day," the guard said sighing, "that's a fine way for the Cho—"

"Luu! Back to post!" The other entrance palace guard shouted.

"Apologies, ma'ams, sir." With a nod, he quickly walked back to his post on the right of the grand palace entrance, re-assuming the stony expression they had to keep.

They made their way down the stairs toward the markets silently. Zelos seemed to be in deep thought and Sera and Lancer weren't about to disturb him.

Plan Impromptu A failed. Zelos shook his head. Well how was he supposed to know the girl was psycho?? If only he could have helped her carry the logs inside... Maybe he should just waltz in on the ceremony and just order everyone to seize the pope—the pope was below him in power after all. Zelos mulled on the delightful idea but finally scratched that out.

"Hey—" Zelos started at his normal low tenor voice, but Lancer quickly pointed at his throat and up.

"—right," Zelos continued a chord higher but in a small voice. "Do any of you have relatives or friends that work at the castle?"

"I think Chef Rand's niece works as a kitchen maid..." Sera started, trying to think of others. "Oh, my cousin's friend works as a chambermaid in the lady's quarters!"

Zelos nodded his head slowly, thinking of how that might work. "Does the castle allow servants to have friends visit or whatever?"

"In the servant's hall—my cousin visits her all the time, sneaking in from tending the gardens!"

"Well, your cousin and her friend's got a new friend. Uh, Lancer, you can go back to the house. Sera dear, show me the way!"

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Sybak stood at the forefront of Tethe'alla's advancement of science and technology, raising the standard of living with each new research or invention. But it was only some centuries ago that the town had just been a small village of farmers raising their livestock. But slowly, as some scholars came away from the city to settle in the relaxed, rustic environment, the town began to grow. The city became known as an intellectual retreat, and soon after, scientists came, setting up independent labs and studying new, experimental theories without the constant, confining gaze of the Church of Martel boring down upon them in the large cities. A small library was soon established, stocked with the knowledge all the scholars and scientists were able to put down in written form. Among one of the myriad items of curiosity was a evil-looking chest brought in by an archeologist who had died soon after, leaving the chest a complete mystery and an object soon ignored by generations afterward.

However, for a small rustic community to become a large village known for new, liberal, intellectual trends, it didn't take long for the King to notice. The University of Sybak was then built, outfitted with the latest and greatest technology and equipment. As much as the scholars and the scientists wanted to reject this intrusion of a government-sponsored academy, they were not proof to what new things could be discovered with the new gleaming labs and equipment. The King did recognize the unspoken taboo of the city, and a Church of Martel was never built in the small town.

The Sybak Library was soon rebuilt into a grand structure, housing any and all knowledge offered to it. It was a historical site, and a famous attraction, regardless of whether the visitor was a scholar, scientist, or adventurer.

Thus when Yuan, Kratos, and Mithos stood in front of the old building and looked at the smoldering remains, the they couldn't help but feel a painful constriction in their chests, thinking of all the material they had happily donated to the library. Around them were still strewn some of the remains of the guards that had been brutally killed. Among them were some research students who seemed forced to take as many notes about the bodies as they could before they couldn't stand it anymore and ran to the bushes.

"Goodness, child! You two! How could you bring a child to see such a horrifying scene! This is no place for sightseeing!"

Yuan, Kratos, and Mithos turned around to see an elderly lady with a notepad and pen, staring at Mithos in disbelief.

"Ma'am, it's okay... I'm not afraid..." Mithos started helplessly.

"My brother's got a stomach of steel, professor, he's very interested in criminal psychology—" Yuan felt a punch in his side, but continued undeterred. "—and wanted to do some research at the library..."

Kratos stepped forward, noting her name and department on her lab coat. "Dr. Oaks of the Forensic Sciences?"

"Very good, sir, yes that would be me."

"Forgive us for not introducing ourselves. My name is Kratos Aurion, this is my friend Yuan and his younger brother, who is very mature for his age. Dr. Oaks, I'm assuming you've done some extensive research into the way these guards were killed. Can you tell us anything more about it?"

Dr. Oaks narrowed her eyes slightly at the mention of the man's name. The name sounded very familiar... perhaps he was one of the contributing authors to the library... or a long time patron? "Regrettably I was not here on the scene as soon as it happened. These men all suffered injuries to the whole body, injuries that looked as if caused by a blunt heated sword. I say heated since there were burns present at every point of contact, including scorched inner flesh. The villagers talk of some living sword of evil, but while I will not completely discount the unity of their witness, the idea is quite radical..."

_xxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Genis, these people are crazy!"

"What are you talking about, Lloyd? This is absolutely amazing! Think of how much is being discovered and researched here!" Genis said as they opened another door to another hallway, popping their heads in to various labs and classrooms.

"Yeah, amazing to the point that we had to sneak away before our heads exploded from the first room we entered thanks to Raine!"

Genis' smile became a little fixed. "Look, it was our luck that we walked straight into the Department of History and Archeology."

"How far away do you think we are? Do you think Raine will find us??"

"I'm sure she's still in that room, completely unaware that we've completely disappeared."

"Hey look, Experimental Sciences! That sounds like the place we need to go! I'm tired of these stupid man-eating, or whatever-eating plants these nutters are growing in this hall."

Genis stopped running and looked at the keypad next to the pair of blast doors under the sign of 'Experimental Sciences'. "I don't think we can go in."

"Naw, I'm sure you _can_." Lloyd said. "Dwarven Vow number 16! 'You can do anything if you try!'"

"No way, you actually remember Dirk's crazy dwarven vows??"

"He says them all the time, it's annoying, but at some point it gets stuck in your head like a bad song."

Lloyd walked up to the keypad and put his ear to the wall above it. He really thought maybe he could hear something cool with his angelic senses and miraculously open the door...

"You know Lloyd, the fact that they have blast doors installed here... do you really want to go in and find out what they're doing? We could probably die in some horrible experiment," Genis said nervously, but then noticed a look of surprise on Lloyd's face.

"Nope, we gotta get in, Genis, I swear I just heard someone say something about ex-sphere ores. I bet there's some rotten stuff going on in there."

"I thought Zelos said Tethe'alla's energy and machine use derives from ex-spheres. That's nothing special."

"No, seriously, these guys just sound fishy, we gotta check it out."

Genis rolled his eyes and sighed. "Lloyd! I really don't think this is a good idea, we can't possibly explain why we kids are in there even if we—"

_—beep!_

Genis froze in shock as Lloyd pushed down on the handle and opened the large heavy door. "H-how...ho—"

"I dunno, I'm just, you know, smart," Lloyd said smugly. He really just heard someone say the code behind the thick walls. "C'mon, Genis, no one here seems to think we're weird at all. I mean, no one else in the building thought anything suspicious of us, they were more eager to tell us their latest research than wonder why they're even talking to kids!"

The hallway beyond was the complete opposite from the rest of the ornate building. The walls and the ground seemed to be made of reinforced concrete and painted white. Even the doors were painted white. Windows did not exist in this corridor. Lloyd found it rather blinding and uncomfortable. There were no one walking in the hallways either. Instead, he heard the same voices he heard through the wall, behind the first closed door to the right. Leaning his back against the wall, he stood there looking rather bored.

"Lloyd!" Genis hissed from a few doors down. "Come here!"

Reluctant to leave the discussion on Cruxis Crystal research, he made his way down toward Genis. "This better be good, Genis... 'Laboratory of Alchemetic Research'. Alchemetic?? What is that?"

Genis opened the door and peeked in. Noticing it was dark, he went in and turned on the lights. "It's a pretty esoteric field that most people look down upon. They try to transform stuff. A long time ago, they were obsessed with trying to figure out how to make gold outta like steel."

"My guess is that their new thing would be Cruxis Crystals... though I thought Dad said the only way to make them were through lots of suffering or whatever in the Ranches." Lloyd carefully let the door close silently before he took a look around the room.

It was a pretty decent sized lab, but it felt small since large machines occupied at least half the space. Lloyd went over to inspect a line of black, shiny rocks with carefully written formulas for each of them. "Genis! They're trying to make Adamantite! Look at this person's research paper! I told you we came to the right place!"

Genis rushed over from another group of strange colored stones. "Hmm, they look like they haven't quite figured it out yet. Maybe Origin won't care about specific properties of Adamantite, you think?"

"Yeah it's just for polishing the Aionis... You think Origin would take a close look at the ring to make sure it was like, polished with the right amount of grain? I dunno, these all look like the same thing."

Genis shook his head. "Altering the amount of any ingredient can produce wildly different results..."

"You're smart, you'll probably find all his mistakes and fix them."

"Whatever, Lloyd, these guys aren't idiots if they're working at a place like this!" Genis said, scribbling down as much information as he could from the lab book onto some scrap piece of paper. Suddenly he stopped. "Wait a minute he _did _figure it out, I think... I just don't see his latest creation in here..."

_—click!_

"SHI—" Lloyd took out his wings without thinking, grabbed Genis and flew behind one of the large machines.

Just as quickly, Lloyd put away his wings, but not before Genis felt the blast of mana and saw them. He gave Lloyd a wild look of dismay, but Lloyd avoided his eyes and kept them glued through a small crack between the machines.

"Dael, your research student really needs to get his act together and remember to turn off these lights. It's a waste of energy and who knows what effects they might have on these experiments," said a stern looking man to a younger—rather confused looking—man next to him.

"I was pretty sure Simmons had gone back to Meltokio yesterday to visit his family..."

"Whatever the case, it seems there is no possibility of energizing an ex-sphere ore into a useable stone is there? Dr. Kyle has been doing this for months, and no matter what voltage he's zapped the thing at, it holds the voltage for maybe ten minutes and then it just fades back to gray."

"The world just doesn't realize the crisis it's going to face in the next decade when we've mined all the energized ex-spheres out of the ground," The man said, sighing. "But we're nowhere closer to making our own either..."

Dael nodded, looking away from the grey stones on the right table to the black stones on the left. "Simmons swears he's figured out how to create the Adamantite of the old myths. A stone so strong that it can only be scratched by itself and nothing else. He proposed the use of Adamantite for all uses of machine mining, building, and cutting of materials to lessen energy use from the ex-spheres so that they would last at least ten times longer."

"I was sorely tempted to cut his research funds. Those that know about his personal research project thinks he is a fool and a dreamer. However, if Simmons can bring his final make before the board and convince all of us, he will have my full backing."

"Thank you, Dr. Jiaogulan. Though Adamantite was always seen as some silly mythical stone, I have been very pleasantly surprised to see how Simmons has progressed these past years. I believe he has told me that he is ready for the board in the next two months."

The room plunged into darkness as the door slammed right afterward, making Lloyd feel like he just got thrown in jail. There wasn't a single ray of light to even distinguish objects right near their faces.

"What, um, now?" Genis said. "I can't see my hands."

Lloyd sighed. He was surprised and glad Genis hadn't outright just asked about his wings. He realized that he had forgotten to cast Incognito when they rushed to hide in the back. The fact that the two men didn't seem to notice... oh right, they're human and can't feel mana. But... no doubt, Dad, Yuan, Mithos, and Raine are going to tear a strip off of him once he gets out.

Lloyd mumbled the spell of Incognito and spread his wings, throwing an ethereal sunlit glow around the room as he flew up and over the machines with Genis.

"Alright, now you know. I'm not human but not elven in any way. What am I? I dunno. But I got wings," Lloyd said, shrugging his shoulders.

Genis looked at the brilliant wings of light behind Lloyd's back. They seemed to shimmer in every color of the spectrum, giving off a warm sunny glow.

"Lloyd, don't look so miserable you're amazing! I knew your mana signature was way different already, so I figured you were kinda superhuman since you could cast magic. No really, Lloyd! You're like an angel! I mean, not in personality, of cou—"

"I think we need to get out of here, Genis, I'm in serious deep trouble already for bringing those out without hiding their mana first. Now all our old geezers are probably tearing their hair out over me."

"Don't worry, Lloyd, they won't get too mad at you! Remember, we now know where to find Adamantite."

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**Please review, any and all! If I get something like 6 or more reviews, I'll totally be back in shape for the next chapter, hehe. This chapter, I must say, wasn't a favorite, but I'm trying to guide it back to where I want it to be.**

**Thanks you and Review!**

**Oh and before I go, go to:**

**(first replace the commas with periods, ff is giving me a hard time with html)  
**

cyathula,deviantart,com/art/zelos-in-maid-outfit-86951871

**to check out my sketch of well, Zelos in his maid outfit!  
**


	32. Chapter 32: Principle and Prejudice

**Yay, a decently fast update! See? Lots of reviews, quick update! This one really went way long! Oh yes, and the Olympics start tomorrow! No worries, I'll still be writing fast and furious! Read, Review, and uh, be happy!**

**By the way, remember this is an alternate universe. I try to keep everyone in character but their history is, of course, subject to change. So no crying about 'but but that didn't happen in the game!"**

**Still don't own Tales. And I sincerely hope they didn't make Lloyd a bad guy in the 'sequel'. Yargh. People would be so out for blood.**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 32: Principle and Prejudice

Dim, damp, and gross.

That was Sheena's first and final assessment of her new living quarters in the dungeon after she woke up to find herself on a hard bench of a bed a few inches off the floor. Quickly jumping off the tattered cushions, she went to the bars to look around at her new fellow inmates. But all the cells across from her were empty.

Wherever she was, she realized that she must not have been thrown in the normal lot of petty criminals. It was strangely quiet here. The most she had heard in the next few hours were some rustling, shuffling, and sometimes the clink of metal against metal in the cell to the right of her. As much as she tried to crane her neck through the bars, she couldn't see into her neighboring cell. Finally she just sat back down on the bed, thinking of what to do next.

She really wondered how Zelos was doing and whether he'd even appreciate the fact that she graciously sacrificed herself to save him (the more she thought about it, the more tragically heroic she felt). He had two choices, she decided: be a wimp and run away... or be a hero and save the damsel in distress. Unfortunately, Sheena was pretty sure she knew Zelos well enough to know he'd probably think about the same options and then half-ass something, shrug, wait for her to get out, and then say he tried. Yeah, that's probably what he's gonna do. People black out for long periods of time, she was pretty sure... he must chilling with a hunny by now! Oh... wait he can't, he's pretending to be a lowly housemaid... Suddenly, Sheena went from rising anger to laughing like a maniac when she remembered Zelos in his excellent dress.

"What's the matter here?"

Sheena looked up at a couple disgruntled guards.

"Nothing, I just thought of a funny joke," she said coolly, her chin tipped up.

"Well...be quiet from now on!"

As they shuffled back, Sheena heard them say something about how creepy guarding the new Dangerous and Mysterious section was.

Dangerous and Mysterious?

Sheena took a closer look at the empty cells facing her. There didn't seem to be anyone in there. Maybe... maybe they're some unknown mysterious spirit! The doors were all closed, who knows what's really inside...

"Hey!" Sheena whispered loudly against the wall to the right. "Anyone there?"

She heard a long, deep sigh for a reply. So she was annoying this person already, is that it?

"Er—fine, I just wanted to know whether you're dangerous or mysterious, that's all. Um, I think I'm in the mysterious category."

She heard something of a deep chuckle this time.

"My lady, I cannot personally say for sure which of the two choices I am. I am more inclined to hope that I fit in the Dangerous category."

"You talk! Why are you here? You don't sound like the usual rabble off the streets..."

"I am here for the crime of murder."

Sheena waited for more, but there was nothing but more sighing. She crawled back on the hard bench/bed and sat against the wall. It seemed the other person was also sitting against the same wall on the other side. There was another dramatic sigh. "Uh, well, I don't know why I'm here. I think my crime was for being a guest at a friend's house."

"Either you or your friend must be wanted by authorities, I would guess."

Sheena straightened up in surprise.

"Y-yeah, you're pretty much right... But my friend wasn't even there. Hey, I have a question, are we the only people in this like, 'dangerous or mysterious' category of cells? I don't see anyone across from us."

"You could say that, most come and go relatively quickly."

"How long have you been here?"

"I have lost track of time. It must be several years by now."

Sheena bit her lip, trying to keep all her questions at bay. This man doesn't elaborate much and only gives the bare minimum answer. He talks like a very well-bred man, yet he's here for murder. Suddenly Sheena remembered that serial killers in the books and stuff always seemed to be highly intelligent people with issues... She felt a shiver go up her spine.

"Er... I'm guessing you've searched for a way to get out of here?"

"No, I have not."

"Why not?" Sheena said in surprise. Every convict combs a cell for a way out, that's absolutely bizarre that he wouldn't. He really must have issues...

"I am here of my own choice."

"What? Why?"

Silence again. Sheena wanted to just scream and just demand to know his whole story and tell him to quit getting all secretive—well, but if he's really a serial killer, maybe she'd be the next target if she makes him too angry...

Another sigh. "Young lady, you appear to be here because of an unlawful arrest. The fact that they put you here instead of the common cells tells me that you are either being used as a hostage to get your friend to come out, and/or you must have some skill they are afraid of, am I correct?"

Sheena was rendered speechless for a second. "You're good. You're probably right on the first reason, but they shouldn't think I'm dangerous... but then...ah, it must be my clothes."

"Your clothes?"

"I'm from Mizuho."

"The mysterious village of ninjas? I can see why they put you in here then."

Sheena chewed her lip, trying to be as conscious of her words as possible. She knew she had one of the biggest mouths in the world and would probably start talking about stuff she's not supposed to talk about in a minute.

"It is not right for you to be here if you did not commit a crime. You should escape. For a ninja of Mizuho, it should not be hard for you to find a way."

"Why... why don't _you_ want to leave?"

"I am guilty of a hateful crime. I deserve to serve my sentence."

Sheena changed her mind on the man. No bad guy would go to jail happy! "Look, I don't know what you did, but I've never heard of a criminal who willingly does time because he thinks he deserves it. I mean, if I killed someone who deserved to die, then I wouldn't go feeling guilty at all and turn myself in."

"The difference would be that Alicia did not deserve to die. I was forced to kill the one I loved. For that, there is no crime more heinous."

Sheena had a feeling she was treading on egg shells now since the man even mentioned his girl's name. "If you were _forced_ to kill someone, that crime is not your own. I don't see you as the murderer at all. The real murderer is the one who put you in that situation."

There was an angry clank of metal against metal. "I killed her with these hands! These are the evidence I must always carry and be reminded of! A murderer is the one who commits the crime of murder! I do not play the game of blame."

Sheena sighed. The man must be one of those really nice, noble people with aggravating black and white ideas of what was right and what was wrong. "I'm not saying you _didn't _do it, but if I were you, I'd be out hunting the man that put me in that situation."

She really hoped that statement didn't make him angry. She just hoped that he would see the obvious truth. She decided to go another step further. "I expect that whoever this man is, he must still be loose in the world, wrecking more havoc upon innocent people like you." She drew up her knees and continued. "Yes, you were correct when you said that being locked up in a cell is the least of my worries. I could escape if I wanted to. I also know that you can escape if _you_ wanted to. Though we may not know each other, I strongly feel that you need to quit wallowing in guilt and find this man. Mizuho has an unrivaled spy network. We can find anyone you want. I would really like to help you if you want... I can't stand seeing such unfair treatment for a man with such lofty morals."

Silence. Sheena quickly starting counting the seconds to stave off her anxiety. Fourteen-one-thousand... Fifteen-one thous—

"What are your own intentions, young lady?"

"I am currently part of a group that strives to... to fix the.. the serious problems of this world."

"That is quite a goal."

"It is... there's a lot more to it of course, but it's rather complicated. We're good people, I swear!"

There was a slight chuckle again, which made Sheena breathe easier.

"Do you intend to get out soon?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Is now a bad time to break free?"

"No..." Sheena really didn't want to say that she wanted to stay a little longer to see if Zelos would actually come rescue her. Finally she decided it was a dumb idea anyway. "You're right, I am just wasting time here. Corrine!"

In an instant there was a puff of yellow, and the three-tailed fox-like creature appeared outside the bars.

"You are lazy, Sheena! Making me do all the work!"

"C'mon, it's so much easier this way, just unlock the door with your spell! And unlock my neighbor's door while you're at it. I'll buy you kirima ice cream, serious."

Sheena leaped off the nasty bench/bed she was sitting on, and made her way out of the open door to meet her neighbor. She had a feeling the man was big, but the man was huge! How he kept in shape wasting away in jail for years was a total mystery to her. The man had blue unkempt hair, shackles on his wrists, terrible fashion, but a face and demeanor that bespoke a man of noble bearing.

"My name is Sheena Fujibayashi."

"My name is Regal Bryant. I see that you are a summoner as well."

"Oh right, this is Corrine. Yes, I am a summoner, but really I can only summon her and the water spirit right now."

"I find it strange that the guards have not— I apologize, I spoke too soon, be on guard!"

Sheena turned her head and heard what must be the next shift descending the stone steps to their quarter.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Shhh..."

Lloyd had his back to the door, listening to see if the two scientists had gone beyond his earshot before they opened the door to the blinding light of the hallway.

"This is the worst lighting, I swear... the white just beats down on you, ugh..." Genis said, covering his eyes as they walked out. He stood there a minute to readjust, and slowly noted a change in the air. "Lloyd..."

"Yeah... what is it?"

"Half-elves!" Genis whispered. "There are half-elves in here?? They aren't Desians right?"

"Dad said Tethe'alla has no Desians..."

"I-I want to take a look."

They moved as quietly as possible away from the door they originally came from to see if they could get a glimpse of the half-elves. But it didn't take long before they realized that it was totally pointless since they all sensed each other.

Genis and Lloyd stepped out and saw a gaunt green-haired man wearing a lab coat jump back in surprise. "Y-you are not Sybak researchers or scientists..."

"Do half-elves work here?" Genis asked, noticing that the man kept staring at Lloyd suspiciously.

"We work in the basement... Are you an overseer?" The man asked carefully, eyes still on Lloyd.

"Uh... no, I'm his friend..." Lloyd replied uncertainly.

Genis suddenly understood the man's anxiety. "Lloyd's human, I know, but he's totally cool, I'm serious. He's my best friend!"

"I have never heard of such a thing."

"He's human, yeah, but he's not mean like other humans!"

Lloyd gave him something of a withering look, but decided he couldn't really defend the rest of his race.

"I do realize that his mana signature is unusual..." The man said as he turned around to lead them away.

They walked down a small side hallway, down some steep steps, and through another blast door. The hallways were considerably narrower, the whitewash on the walls were gone, and the lights were replaced by dim hanging bulbs. After five minutes of walking down the tunnel, they reached what looked like a door to a bank vault.

"Kate!" The man yelled into the cup of his hands on the wall next to the door.

After a few seconds and sliding of locks, the door opened inwards.

Almost immediately, every pair of eyes stared at Lloyd as he walked in with Genis. All the people in this room were half-elves. Lloyd was really getting ticked at the treatment he was getting.

"Kate, I found these two upstairs."

Genis quickly stepped next to Lloyd, holding his arm. "H-hi, I'm Genis, and this is my _friend_, Lloyd. He's human, but he's really nice."

"So Seph, did you discover what that blast of mana was?"

"No, just these two, I didn't dare venture further, and I wanted to make sure this boy didn't get found."

"How did you end up up there?" The blue/green-haired lady named Kate asked, turning towards Genis and re-adjusting her glasses. She had her left arm crossed, her right elbow propped against it, and her chin in her hands.

"Uh... we were exploring the building while our, uh, parents were investigating the library incident..."

"Did you cast magic in the building? You know that is a serious offense punishable by death! In fact, if you are found out to be a half-elf, you would be executed just for hiding it already!"

"Oh, wow, really?" Genis said, feeling stupid (a rare event for him indeed).

"How can you not know that??"

Lloyd gave out an annoyed sigh. "Look it was me, okay? You should be able to tell that I'm not your average human, and I was the one who got us in this section, and I'm the one responsible for the big blast of mana."

"That's not possible."

"Well it _is._ I'm a very special person." Lloyd said with such conviction that Genis buried his face in his hands.

"Are you—were you an experiment then?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow and re-adjusting her glasses again.

"It's a complicated story..." Lloyd muttered. He suddenly wasn't sure he wanted to tell them his abilities were natural in case these scientists found him interesting and wanted to dissect him.

"Why are all of you down in this basement?" Genis asked.

"We work for Dr. Jiaogulan on Cruxis Crystal research." Kate replied. "If that blast was caused by you, then tell us what that huge force of mana was. Even if either of you cast high level magic, it honestly could not have equaled the magnitude of that blast."

Genis looked at Lloyd, who looked back at Genis helplessly.

"How about we learn more about you guys before I tell you what that blast was about," Lloyd said finally. "You said Cruxis Crystal research. Are you trying to make Cruxis Crystals without victims or what?"

"How do you know about Cruxis Crystals?"

"Ugh, stop asking me questions, just give me an answer!"

"It is impossible to form a Cruxis Crystal without host bodies. Now you answer us, how do you know about Cruxis Crystals? It is a government-run program that few people know about."

"We know people who have them and the effects they cause. My mother was a host body for a Cruxis Crystal, does that clear things up a bit?"

"Your mother? Here?"

"In Sylvarant, we are from Sylvarant, another world," Genis said quickly.

"Sylvarant, I see... the declining world, is that right?" A man with blue-hair asked.

"How do you know about Sylvarant?"

"Everyone knows about Sylvarant. We don't know much about it other than it is very poor world. Do they treat half-elves better over there than they do here in Tethe'alla?"

Genis glanced at Lloyd and replied, "No... based on you guys it seems that half-elves are really oppressed here. In Sylvarant, it's the humans who are oppressed by a group of half-elves known as Desians. They farm the humans' bodies for exspheres. So, not surprisingly, humans are afraid and hate the half-elves. Me and my sister are not with the Desians, but most human towns refused to take us in either."

All the scientists looked at each other in surprise.

"Why? Why is it that we must be so oppressed like this?? Here we are slaves to the humans. For us here, to see sunlight was a dream! You!" the green-haired man named Seph pointed at Lloyd. "Why would you be any different from any other human?"

"Uhhh... I come from a special family? Most of my family's friends are half-elves. I grew up with them."

Kyle spoke up angrily. "Why can't all the humans be like you then? I mean, just because we can sense mana, live longer, and are generally smarter..."

"I think you answered your question," Kate interrupted with a sigh and looked at Lloyd. "Your mana signature is different. You said you could sense mana as well. I can only assume you don't discriminate against us because you, too, can sense mana and so are not jealous. Now, why is it you can sense mana when no other human can?"

"Well, there's two other humans that can sense mana... my dad... and your world's Chosen..."

"Hmm that's right... hey Kyle, remember? The experimental lab in Meltokio did something to the Chosen that would let him use magic." Seph said, talking to the blue-haired man named Kyle. "Canter told us they were given a small, strange stone that they ground up and made the Chosen swallow when he was a child. The Chosen does not have the full capability of half-elves or elves, but he was deemed capable to casting up to mid-level magic,"

"Is that why you can cast magic?" Kyle asked.

"My dad ate it, I didn't!"

"So it's genetic?" Kate asked, tipping her head and fixing her glasses (again). Then there was that gleam in her eye that reminded Genis and Lloyd unpleasantly of Raine.

"I guess. It's not that interesting, really..." Lloyd said awkwardly. "So uh, do you guys know what a complete Cruxis Crystals do to people?"

"We actually don't really know... we were ordered to research on how to create Cruxis Crystals, so we don't really know what a complete Crystal does. Many of our subjects didn't survive as host bodies either... so there's no data on completed Crystals."

Lloyd gave them a disgusted look. "That's horrible, how many subjects have you had?? Are any of them still alive??"

No one answered. Instead they just all looked at each other uncomfortably.

"Yes, there is one girl who is still alive... we see her about every month or so," Kyle finally said.

"Then she needs a keycre—"

Everyone jumped at the knocking sound behind the bookcase in the corner.

"D-did they find out??" Kyle said, face draining in color.

Seph and Kate ran to the bookcase. "Half-elves and a human... Who is this? How do you know about this place?"

"We're looking for a kid in red and a smaller kid in blue. Please, we're not authorities or anything, just their angry guardians," Yuan's voice answered in a bored drawl.

Lloyd suddenly felt like a bucket of ice water just got thrown on him. "Genis! I'm gonna die!"

The bookcase slid open, and Yuan, Mithos, Raine, and Kratos walked in, looking none to happy.

"Sorry to intrude, but we have been trying to find these two for a while. We got lucky sensing their presence under that manhole at the edge of town..."

"Ah, yes..."

"We won't tell anyone about your secret," Mithos said with a reassuring smile. Then he winced when he saw Raine slap Genis angrily as she yelled at him about sneaking off.

Kratos walked over to Lloyd, planted his feet, and crossed his arms. Lloyd noted there was no expression on his dad's face, which in this context meant he was angry as hell. "Accident... dad..."

"You have five seconds starting now."

"Ah, w-well, it was an accident, serious! I mean, right, before then, we went exploring around the university and we came across someone's research on adamantite—I mean, uh not finished, er not real—" Lloyd shot a pleading glance at Genis.

"—prototypes!"

"—prototypes, yeah! of adamantite in this one lab but then we heard the door start to click open and I just reacted 'cause there was no time and we had to hide and I had to get behind these huge machines, and I forgot—I mean I didn't have time to cast Incognito—but we didn't get found and we heard some important stuff the coupla guys that came in said like we know now where to find this person who's trying to recreate it—recreate adamantite—he's in Meltokio right now with the finished real thing!" Lloyd took a deep breath—but was still too nervous to properly breathe.

"It's true, Mr. Aurion!" Genis cried, hanging off the ground by Raine's death-grip on his shirt. "A-and then one of the half-elves here found us and took us down here after we got out of the room!"

The silence that followed was so loud, Lloyd thought he was going to go deaf. Yuan shook his head and sighed. "You guys are so much trouble... we had to drop everything we were doing, risk our identity, and run to the nearest mana radar to dispose of the guards that were already alerted. You could have gotten all of us half-elves in serious trouble or even executed!"

"I'm soooooorrrrry! You never told me about any mana radars or possible execution or anything!"

"Would it have changed anything?" Kratos asked dryly.

"Er... we would have been more careful?"

Raine rolled her eyes at the boys and dropped Genis unceremoniously on the ground. She turned to face the three bewildered scientists who had been momentarily forgotten. "I'm terribly sorry for not introducing ourselves." After quickly introducing everyone she continued. "We are quite certain there shouldn't be any guards coming to check on the university any more. May I ask what research you do here?"

Raine quickly realized that her seemingly innocuous question apparently was _not_ when she saw all of them glance at each other and shake their heads in distress.

"Th-they research Cruxis Crystals and how to grow them," Lloyd said, looking at his dad.

"Really? I was unaware that Tethe'alla had this kind of program."

"It's a secret program, that's why we're trapped here," Kyle said, then quickly introduced themselves.

"Who is funding the program?"

"We don't know," Kate said quickly.

"Kate! After all he's done to you...quit protecting him!" Seph cried, angry and exasperated. "The Pope is the one funding the program. He is also the one who has made our lives more and more miserable with each anti-half-elf law he passes every few months!"

"I see... but how would he know about Cruxis Crystals?" Kratos said, looking at Yuan. "Besides the fact that the Chosen has one...but no one should know to grow it. It's supposed to be known as a unique gift of the Chosen."

"Is there anyone else involved in this program?" Yuan asked.

"The sole surviving host is brought here every month or so by a man named Vharley," Kate replied.

"The host is still alive? How near completion is the crystal??" Kratos asked sharply.

"Our last test indicated ninety-two percent completion," Seph replied, amazed at how well-informed this group of strangers were about their top-secret experiment.

"Ninety-two?? Where is this person?? He's in grave danger without a proper keycrest!"

"The subject is a human girl named Presea Combatir. Even though sixteen years have past, she has not physically aged since she was embedded at twelve years old." Kate replied without much emotion. "Like we said, she is brought in by the man named Vharley, who gives her to Dr. Jiaogulan. He is the head of the experimental sciences department and is our overseer. We are given no information on who or where she is from."

"Sixteen years? She has grown a crystal for sixteen years?" Kratos said in disbelief. Anna hosted the Crystal for three years before he rescued her and it was already near completion...

"Sir, we have nothing personal with our subjects, and if you save her, we would all be happy for her, but it would put our lives at risk for failing the experiment..." Kyle said reluctantly.

Yuan sighed. He hated getting into these situations in Tethe'alla. The half-elves here are so carefully controlled that rescuing them unnoticed was usually impossible.

"This would just require the disposal of the ones in control," Mithos said simply, noticing all the surprised looks directed at him. Apparently everyone had forgotten he existed or something...

Kratos turned to Lloyd, who immediately stood up straighter. "You said the man who may have true adamantite is in Meltokio?"

"Y-yeah, his name is Simmons."

Kratos turned to the rest of the group. "We need to make plans. Meltokio is too dangerous of a city for half-elves to enter. I think the safest plan is for me and Lloyd to enter and find as much information as we can on this man, and hopefully even whereabouts of Sheena and Zelos. We may also be able to dig up information about Vharley, the Pope, and the girl as well."

"Sounds good to me. I'm guessing we won't see you guys for a while with that laundry list of things to do," Yuan said, then turned towards the three scientists. "Do you guys sneak out without much problem from that manhole?"

"We don't do it much, we only just finished digging it out a few months ago. However, we just go out long enough to enjoy the sunlight. We don't dare go any further."

Raine realized what Yuan was thinking of. "Could we bring wing packs for them to escape to base?"

"I was thinking of something like that. Do you know what sensors they may have on you guys?"

"I'm certain we have not been tagged. Since we are kept underground, they didn't bother bugging us with anything," Kyle replied.

Seph still looked at Kate uneasily. "Are you guys planning to harm the Pope?" Kate suddenly dropped both her arms to her side and gave him a horrified stare.

"No, we're just gathering information right now," Kratos replied in surprise.

Seph saw Kate relax and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Then we all really appreciate your help and we would be happy to aid you in any way."

Yuan gave him a faint smile. "Don't thank us until you're safely at our base. This is still a dangerous operation, you know."

Kratos turned toward the bookcase. "Alright, we should get moving—"

"Wait, Mr. Aurion, here is some of the research I gathered on the adamantite the man had been working on in the lab."

After taking the piece of paper from Genis and thanking him, he turned toward everyone else. "Lloyd and I will make our way out first and head to Meltokio. Good luck on the rescue operation. I hope to see all three of you in a better environment."

* * *

**It's soooo long!! It deserves soooo many reviews! Kirima ice cream to all who review.  
**

**So, Review!**


	33. Chapter 33: The Malleable

**Heeeeeeere's the next chapter. Mind is totally blank right now. **

**Read, enjoy, review!**

**I don't own Tales of any kind.**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 33: The Malleable

"There it is! Meltokio, right?"

Kratos and Lloyd stopped at the crest of a hill they had just climbed. They had flown their Rheairds to a forest near Meltokio, so not to attract any attention from security by flying too near the city.

The sun cast a golden hue over the city as dusk fell. Meltokio was built on a high hill. The castle stood at the top, along with the large aristocratic mansions. Under their gaze was the rest of the town... as well as the slums that hugged the back of the hill.

"That is Meltokio, you're right. It should be another ten minute's walk. We should arrive before dark."

Lloyd was rather excited about visiting the city that Zelos lived in. Zelos supposedly had a huge mansion, and he always talked about the grand castle and all the fine wine they drank there. "Are we going to go see Zelos' mansion?"

"I am actually not certain where he lives. We will see when we arrive. Reports haven't been very favorable about the conditions of the city. If the place is under as much surveillance as people are saying, it will not be a very pleasant visit."

Lloyd followed his dad as they quickly descended the hill. He really hoped that the man named Simmons really did take his finished adamantite with him. To be honest, Lloyd actually couldn't remember either of the scientists saying he brought any work home at all... And they just said he was _ready_ for the board, that's got to mean he's made a final product. Right?

"Dad, how would you be able to tell if the guy's rock is real adamantite or not? Could we have just swiped one of his test ones in the lab and it'd be good enough?"

To his surprise, Kratos looked thoughtful and didn't immediately reply. "I really don't know. I did bring a small sample of Aionis to see what would happen. I do think that something made of only true adamantite can affect Aionis." Kratos took out a small smooth metallic looking pebble that shone a dull honey color in the sun. Lloyd realized he'd never seen it before and took it in his hand.

"Affect? What's that supposed to mean?" Lloyd tossed the strangely light pebble in the air and caught it—his fingers sinking in. "Dad! It... it's soft! Look, you can see my fingerprints! Why would it need adamantite to... for whatever it's supposed to do? It looks workable enough." Lloyd rolled it around in his hand, mushing it into something of a ball with enough force.

"Try stretching it out and see if you can snap it in two."

Lloyd quickly took the material between both hands and pulled as hard as he could. Strangely enough, it adamantly refused to stretch further than a finger. Lloyd tried twisting it in half but the substance quickly hardened. He threw a questioning look at his dad.

"I liken it to a stress reliever," Kratos said.

"What?"

"A stress reliever was an object people took out their stress on by squeezing it. It was made of a malleable foamy material that does not exist anymore... But the Aionis is somewhat like that. When I feel stressed, I like to squeeze it. It has a nice consistency which springs back to its original shape afterwards."

Lloyd stared at his dad in utter disbelief. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His dad looked completely serious. Lloyd gave the thing a tight squeeze to keep himself from bursting out laughing.

"Whatever the case, it is a strange rock that is both soft but also one of the hardest material to make a permanent dent in. Legend had it that only adamantite was strong enough to separate a piece of Aionis into two. I assume it is the only one that can force it to keep a certain form and have it stay that way."

"Who the heck figured that out? That's the craziest thing I'd ever heard."

"Aionis is also of elven origin. What seems abnormal here is quite normal on another planet. There is always someone who will work out seemingly impossible problems. That just seems to be the way life is."

Lloyd continued to squeeze the strange rock, finding it somewhat addictive. "So... if I swallow this rock, will I be able to cast higher level spells?"

"No, dosage has nothing to do with potency after a certain amount. We are at our limit already. Aionis is able to clear certain obstructions humans have in order to perceive mana. Beyond releasing those blockages, it will wreck havoc on your body's mana. There has been accounts of overzealous humans who have taken too much. I don't really know what the fatal amount is, however."

"What happens?"

"Their mana becomes increasingly unstable and either they lose their minds, their body just deteriorates, or both. For elves and half-elves to congest it, their mana would instantly go out of control. They mostly use it for certain spell augmentations, or medical uses. If you are thinking of swallowing that rock, be certain that if the rock does not kill you, that I definitely will."

"Y-you're kidding right?" Lloyd said cautiously, laughing a little, and looking a little pained at his dad's somber expression. "No, I have totally no appetite for it, don't worry..."

xxxxxxxx

"Simmons? I'm sorry sir, if he lives here, he must not live in my neighborhood or shop at this store," said a thin man who was in the process of dismantling the tent over his vegetable stand.

Lloyd and Kratos turned away, frustrated once again. Lloyd was getting more and more nervous with each person who shook their head. His dad must be thinking he was lying... What if...what if there actually is no Simmons? Or he's not here? Or he's left already? Or—

"We know he is not one of the aristocracy... since all the townspeople can name every nobles' surname. He also does not seem to live near the markets, which is where the majority of the town citizens live around. Even if the man were intensely private, the townspeople would know," Kratos said, talking mostly to himself. "Lloyd—"

"uh-y-yes?"

Kratos cocked his head and crossed his arms. "What's wrong?"

"N-noth—"

"What's wrong?"

Lloyd took a deep breath. "I just really hope we find this Simmons guy...I swear I wasn't lying about what I heard! He exists! Honestly! But no one seems to know him! Aaaahhh!!" He squeezed his eyes shut.

"I was just going to suggest that we check the next area of the city."

Lloyd stopped in the middle of pulling at his hair. "Next area? I thought this was it!"

"This is the bourgeois neighborhood. There is also the less fortunate neighborhood that most people pretend doesn't exist."

"But this guy's a scientist! He must be like smart and rich or something to be at Sybak right??"

"Sybak accepts those of intelligence and talent, not those only of money. Granted, the rich have more means to educate their children, but this doesn't mean everyone else is any less intelligent."

"Ah.."

Lloyd followed his father along a neatly cobbled street that circled the bottom of the hill. The lamplit cobblestone street, however, slowly deteriorated until only a dirt path was visible by moonlight. The houses and buildings they passed just as well reflected the state of the pathway. Littered beside the path were broken bottles, papers, and other junk that had clearly been there for some time.

"Something stinks."

"Lloyd, that is an arrogant statement. These people can't help but lack certain amenities. Mind your mouth."

The dirt pathway slowly grew wider and next thing Lloyd knew, he was standing on a small hill overlooking rows on top of rows of houses built with nothing more than wooden planks or sheets of cloth. They hugged the back of the large hillside, sparkling lights of hanging lanterns illuminating this completely different side of Meltokio.

"This is still Meltokio?"

"Yes, the part that others try to forget exists," Kratos replied as he walked down the path and turned into a narrow alleyway. Finally he found a group of people sitting on stools and chatting cheerfully under a small lantern. After a moment, they noticed the two strangers that clearly didn't belong in their part of town walking their way.

"Simmons? Yeah, they own the sundry mart on the west side. Quiet bunch, but they're nice enough. Why you wanna see them?"

"I was referred by a friend in Sybak for information on a project he is currently working on."

An elderly man sighed and shook his head. "Simmons, that man has less sense than a rock. His poor wife and kid can barely keep the shop open with all his travel expenses and special things he's got to buy for his little research project."

"I see... could you tell where I might find them?"

"I'll just take ya, easier that way." A younger man stood up, and gestured for them to pass.

After going down more alleys and narrow streets, they took so many turns that Lloyd was pretty certain they wouldn't be able to get back on their own. Finally the man stopped at a house that looked no different from any of the ones around it.

"Hey, Charlie boy! Someone here to see you!"

After a few seconds, a young thin man opened the door, looking at everyone confusedly—especially the two strangely dressed people. "H-how may I help you?"

"Alright, take care folks." Kratos muttered his thanks to the man as he walked off, and turned toward the man at the door.

"I apologize for showing up without notice and so late at night... To get to the point, I had heard that you were researching adamantite, and I was very interested to learn more about it."

The young man's eyes brightened. "R-really? Who told you...? M-my name is Charles. Here, come in, please."

It was a fairly decent living space with a table and beds to the side. Charles quickly introduced his wife and young son, and Kratos introduced Lloyd.

"I-I don't know what to say. Most people have absolutely no interest in my project, how did you even hear of it??"

"It's a long story... but there is a special item that requires adamantite to process it—according to this legend. We had been searching for years before we stumbled upon your name."

Charles went to a small table on the side, stacked with papers and took out a few clumps of what looked like shiny coal.

"This is it... I think. No one knows for sure what real adamantite looks like, but based on books, legends, anything... this is the closest I've gotten. I say it's finished but it may just be another unfinished prototype."

Kratos took a small lump of the adamantite from Charles' hand. With his other hand, he whipped out the Flamberge (don't ask where or how).

Everyone stepped back in shock and Lloyd nearly tumbled out of his chair. He'd never seen the Flamberge before and his dad hardly ever mentioned it. There was no mistaking the mythical sword, however, the red metal of the blade seemed to glow with an intense heat, making the blade look almost alive. The fuller was an intricately carved golden steel flame shooting from what looked like the leaping golden metal flames of the cross-guard.

"May I test its strength?" Kratos asked. The man was still staring at the sword in total confusion and wonder when he nodded frantically.

Kratos put the rock on the hard-packed dirt of the floor and held the Flamberge blade down. The next thing everyone heard was a piercing sound of metal against metal... and the immediate sound of something breaking.

Lloyd quickly disentangled himself from the chair and ran to his dad's side. Kratos held up the Flamberge and inspected the broken tip. He bent down and picked up the small piece that had snapped off.

"Oh Martel, Dad! It broke your Flamberge! How are you going to get it fixed??"

Kratos didn't look worried at all as he put away the sword and carefully dropped the broken piece in his pouch of infinite items. He stooped down and dug up the adamantite, which looked perfectly untouched. Brushing off the dirt that stuck to it as it was forced into the ground, Kratos put the rock back on the table. "My sword is also supposed to be made of unbreakable material. I think the rock on this table proves its mythical density." Kratos said with a slight smile.

The man slowly inched forward and took the rock, examining it for any scratches from the force of the sword's blow.

"I'm sorry, I have one more test for it, if you don't mind..."

"Not at all, this is amazing!" Charles shot to his little desk for pen and paper.

"I do ask that you do not mention either of my tests to anyone... especially the board...simply because the two items I brought out are mythical in themselves, so no one would believe you if you talked about it."

Kratos took out the smooth lump of Aionis next. Putting it on the table, he took the sharper edge of the adamantite and tried to slice it. The Aionis was rather unforgiving however, and only grudgingly parted the way of the adamantite. Seconds later, Kratos had two lumps of Aionis on the table.

"M-may I ask what metal that is, sir?"

"It is called Aionis. Legend had it that it could only be cut with adamantite."

"Aionis? I have never heard of such a material..." Charles picked up one of the lumps of Aionis and examined it with a familiar Raine-like glint in his eye.

"I apologize for intruding on you like this... and this next question. Do you have enough of this that you could part with some? I will definitely reimburse you for it..."

"Reimbur—no, no, what you have shown me today has been absolutely unforgettable! There is definitely enough of this prototype—not to mention I could make a few more at the lab if I need to. Take my collection here, it's yours! Though...could I take that small sample of Aionis for me to look at?"

Kratos looked at the two small lumps of Aionis that he was about to put in his pouch. It wasn't a good idea to let Aionis free in the human world... then again, how many people would try to swallow it if they didn't know what it was? Kratos mused quickly. It had been cut into such a small piece that it was hardly half the amount he had to swallow to get any benefit anyway... "Alright. I still insist on compensating you—"

"No need for money! The fact that you have proven the validity of my experiment is more exciting than anything!"

Lloyd noticed his wife and kid didn't look so happy when he refused money. Kratos and Charles were still squabbling over the money issue when half of him wondered if he should 'accidently' drop his allowance of gald on the floor before they leave.

Kratos took out a thousand gald and placed it on the table. "Final. You can call it a research endowment. In fact, I should say this is compensation for taking up your time and disturbing your privacy. Mrs. Simmons, please accept our apologies."

Lloyd quickly hopped out of his chair, said his own apologies, and quickly followed his father out.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Colette sat on the high steps of the Martel temple, looking across at the moonlit waters of the ocean. The Day of Prophecy was fast approaching. There was a definite change in the atmosphere in Iselia. The villagers all seemed to be in better mood, and constantly looked at her when she walked around the village. She knew them all, and they all knew her... but she still felt like a freak of nature that everyone had to pretend not to look at.

Sighing, she threw a rock out toward the ocean. It didn't make it too far based on the silence afterwards.

Lloyd said he would go with her on the Journey. Was there even going to be a Journey? It was all so confusing and she felt angry. Angry at the fact that she grew up believing something, only to be told it was all a farce. But then the people who told her it was a farce still thought she should do the Journey anyway so Sylvarant would be happy. Her birthday was in two days. The past few birthdays had been the most memorable when Lloyd and Genis came and secretly brought surprises and cookies. She had totally forgot she had a birthday before then. Now, she couldn't help but face this coming birthday with dread... and complete confusion. Just what would happen anyway? She has already been to the Tower of Salvation, seen the horror that it truly was. Just who controls the oracle anyway? Could that angel have been killed or left blankly floating around in the city of angels? Perhaps nothing would happen, and there would be no light, no oracle, and no Journey. Then why would they say she should go do the whole ritual if they knew nothing was going to happen?

If nothing happened on the Day of Prophecy, what would the villagers do to her? She grew up with them and they had all been kind and friendly. But she always felt alone. It was a feeling she had long repressed, but now it roared up inside her, bringing tears to her eyes. Everyone at the base was so caught up with the current emergencies, her role in their fight for the future really wasn't all that important. Everyone except Mrs. Irving, who adamantly refused the doctor's orders and found a way to strap herself to a Rheaird and fly back to Iselia with her. Now Mrs. Irving was back at her old house with Dirk. She was the only person who really seemed to care. She had said that if the Day became a disaster, that she would have the Rheaird ready for them to get away. Colette dearly wanted to spend the night at her house, but she knew Grandmother Phaidra and her father would not let her out of their sight when the Day was so close. She only managed to slip out to the steps of the temple when they had all gone to bed. If they woke up to find her gone, it would be a nightmare.

Colette buried her face in her hands in sheer frustration.

_Goddess Martel... if you truly exist, please tell me what to do..._

But only the gentle crashes of the waves against the shoals answered her prayer.

* * *

**I couldn't tell if I was a bit long-winded on this chappie... but eh. Now I think I've warned people already about how Colette's not really going to be the happy airhead that she is in the game, so if you don't like my Colette... too bad!**

**Oh, and please Review! It makes just so so happy when I get reviews! The more reviews I get, the faster I start on the next chapter (which is gonna be more action packed than this one, I guarantee it)!**


	34. Chapter 34: The Sewers of Meltokio

**Oh man it's been too long!! I am not a fan of waking up at 5am for work! Not at all! Anyway, this chapter had been coming around forever, and though I am bed-ridden with a flu and allergies, I had to finish!!**

**I have not abandoned the story! And never will!!**

**I's not owning any Tales of Symphonia.**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 34: The Sewers of Meltokio

Lloyd walked along silently next to his father, hands clasped behind his head and looking up at the bright waning moon in the sky. It took them about an hour to find their way out of the slums again, but now that they were starting to see the dirt slowly get replaced by cobblestone, Lloyd felt almost sad. The slums may be slums, but they were really quite a lively bunch, even at night. Most everyone were either sitting on the rooftops or chairs chatting with friends, or walking festively along the late night food stands. The food was super cheap and after Lloyd managed to buy himself two deep-fried, potato-covered sausages when his father wasn't looking, he was ready to get every other tasty snacks. Then of course, he'd be taken to the side by Kratos and lectured on the fact that even though he doesn't need to eat, eating bad food was still gonna make him fat and give him all sorts of health problems, and blah, blah, blah...

His stomach was starting to feel rather strange and finally it made a funny sound. It was so loud in the silence that Lloyd winced, and subconsciously rubbed his stomach.

"Stomach aches?"

Of course his dad would know everything. Lloyd gave him a long-suffering look and strove to change the subject immediately.

"So dad, does the 'nice' side of Meltokio have a night life? It was all quiet and stuff when we were there earlier."

"Most of the townspeople prefer to stay indoors at night with their family."

"Why?"

"Maybe because they like their house and don't feel the need to stay out of it as much as possible? The townspeople do have festivals every once in a while at nights, but I'm not certain whe—" Kratos stopped suddenly, put a finger to his lips, and motioned Lloyd to the shadows. Lloyd gave him a confused look before he caught the hushed voice of someone much further than what a normal human could hear.

"—shrub, make a run for the right!" The sound of the toes of boots hitting the ground followed soon afterwards, fading away from their line of hearing.

"That's Zelos! Dad, we gotta find him!"

Kratos nodded. "It seems he is not alone. Let us follow them from the shadows and not let ourselves be known until we are at a safe destination. Let's go."

They ran as quietly as they could along the pathway back to the main square and stopped behind the side of a building, before the large boulevard that led from the gate to the castle.

"The main gate is closed!" Lloyd said in surprise.

"And it seems the guards are more concerned with people who might want to leave—since there are two on either side facing the city."

Lloyd quietly tiptoed behind the building and looked out from the narrow alleyway onto the main street. To the right of the shuttered stand across from the building they were at, was a large rather healthy looking bush. It seemed to be planted there to hide the narrow opening behind the stores that faced the perimeter street.

"And maybe that's the shrub we heard Zelos talk about on the other side of the street." Kratos said behind Lloyd, whose stomach gurgled again.

"Can we just fly over the road or something so the guards don't see us?"

Kratos sighed impatiently. "Lloyd, our wings are bright enough to light up a room. Do you think they won't see us? Come, let's go back to the side street we were on. Follow me and don't say anything. Don't look so tense, either."

"But—"

Kratos put a hand on Lloyd's shoulder and walked back out to the front of the building, then walked on the side path they were on earlier toward the main square. Within a few paces of the main gate, a guard immediately told them to stop and explain why they were out in the middle of the night. Kratos looked mildly surprised, Lloyd did his best to copy his dad's every expression.

"Sorry sir, we had just reached the city today and no one told us about a curfew. My son and I heard that there—"

Lloyd's stomach gave another loud lurch and he grimaced in pain. He looked at his dad apologetically.

"—there... Lloyd, is it hurting that bad? Please, we... heard there was a doctor. We are searching for a doctor."

Lloyd gave the most painful look he could muster. "Hey, dad... it's getting worse, I feel like I'm gonna die... I need a doc..."

The guards looked at Lloyd, who seriously looked like he was about to crumple. "Sorry, sir, I'm afraid the closest thing to a doctor you can find here is the local pharmacist. But the shop is closed—"

"Could we make a special call for the pharmacist? Please, this is an emergency."

The guards gave each other an uncertain look. Finally one of them shrugged and pointed to his left to the row of stores along the perimeter road. "Bill lives above his shop. His store's five building's down on the right. If he's asleep, don't be tellin' him we said anything. He's a cranky old man—and don't be tellin' him we said that either. Hope ya feel better, son."

"Thank you," Kratos said, looking extremely relieved.

"T-thanks..." Lloyd squeaked, hobbling after his dad.

Kratos looked down at Lloyd, who still looked rather pale. "Are you really hurting that bad?"

"Er, no, dad... I mean..."

"By all means, don't start walking like you're well again. Maybe it was a good thing you ate all that greasy food earlier—saved me from a rather inadequate excuse I was going to use."

"What was that?"

"Something about whether there were any pubs open at night."

Lloyd was going to say something when he saw some shadows move just beyond the last house. "Dad!"

Kratos nodded, quickly picking up pace. As they made their way to the last of the houses on the right, Lloyd glanced up at the dimly lit windows above the pharmacy storefront.

They paused at the bend of the street, the cobblestones lit only by the bright light of the lamp post on the corner. Kratos gave the area a quick sweep with his eyes, then walked the bend to the park behind the stores. The park was partially lit—there were other lamps that could be lit—giving the place a rather forbidding feel.

Lloyd looked around confusedly, looking over bushes and behind benches. If they were hiding here, they should have seen them by now and come out of hiding... he looked at his dad, who didn't seem to be bothering with searching the area. He was just standing there looking pensive.

"They... they are under us."

"What?"

"Can you not feel their fading presence?"

"How? Where?"

"I'm not entirely sure..."

Lloyd took another quick look around. "Uh, maybe they went down the drain..."

"What?" Kratos gave Lloyd a disappointed frown and shook his head. Then he noticed the manhole that was partially hidden under a bush at the corner end of the park. "Ah well... perhaps you're right."

Next thing they knew, Lloyd found himself descending the ladder into the humid stench of the sewage system. He wasn't sure it was such a brilliant idea after all... Reluctantly, he moved the thick steel sewage cover back in place, cutting off the fresh, cool air of the night... and the light of the moon.

"How... how are we gonna see?" Lloyd asked in the inky blackness, his hands barely lit by the moonlight filtering through the holes from the manhole cover. He squinted in the darkness at his dad and saw a smile on his face.

"We see by the light of our wings. Time to put your new and improved _Incognito _to the test."

"But..." Lloyd said hesitantly. He honestly wasn't sure he would trust his own formulas or ideas, but then again... his great, omniscient dad _did_ look over his work. "...okay, you go first."

"Of course." Kratos closed his eyes and chanted the new _Incognito _spell in a quick, low voice. He concentrated on the mana that flowed in channels in and out of his body, circulating and ready to divert the blast of mana his wings were about to give.

Lloyd watched, somewhat worried about his reputation if this didn't work. But so far so good. Instead of the blanket shield of mana that normally just covered their signature, the energy was going to be re-diverted back to their mana reserve. Theoretically, it would also weaken the physical blast of wind and mana, making it more disguised.

Soon, the walls were lit from top to bottom with the shimmering light of Kratos' wings, fluttering slowly like a butterfly. Lloyd bit back a grin at the simple fairy wings his father always drew out, then closed his eyes and chanted his cover spell slowly and carefully. Kratos folded his arms, shaking his head in amusement as tendrils of light grew from Lloyd's shoulder blades, fanning carefully into a simple, straightforward rendition of a sparrow's outstretched wings. By now the sewer walls glowed as brightly as daylight.

"I'm such a genius," Lloyd said with a smug smile as he floated next to his dad. "Did you feel your mana getting filled up again? I almost feel like I got more than I had originally! Don't you, dad?"

"Yes, most of the mana was successfully re-diverted back to us, but it seems extremely unstable. We will need to expend it in some way soon or it may affect us negatively."

"Oh."

"Whatever the case, let's hurry and follow this trail of footsteps now that we can see."

They made their way swiftly, flying above the disturbed mossy slime of the pathway below. Lloyd was so caught up in making fancy twirls and somersaults through the air that he didn't immediately register that he had just been brutally kicked out of the air until he plunged into fast-flowing, sludgy brown water below him.

"LLOYD!!" Kratos cried, narrowly dodging a blow from the unknown assailant.

"Lloyd?"

Suddenly two heads popped out from behind a large pipe. "Kratos!" Zelos and Sheena cried, eyes immediately drawn to the bright figure in the air. They ran to a tall man, who still looked ready fight, and quickly grabbed him. "Regal, they're friends! It's okay!"

"HOLY CRAP, IT'S _WARM!! HELP ME!" _Lloyd cried further downstream, trying to swim frantically against the current and reach for the ledge that seemed just too high. His father caught up to him quickly and reached a hand down for Lloyd to grab, lifting him to the walkway.

Zelos and Sheena ran toward the pair, followed by a confused Regal.

"What are these people??" Regal asked, staring at Kratos' wings illuminating the surrounding area.

"They're human. I mean for the most part... we'll explain later. Trust me, they're good people!" Sheena said. The two angels were about fifty feet away. Lloyd was coughing up most dramatically, as his dad just stood next to him looking pensive. Sheena suddenly realized she wasn't entirely sure how she would clean Lloyd up either...

"Yo, Lloyd! You looking good there, bud!" Zelos cried happily, looking like he was going to give him a bear hug, but thought better of it. "Kratos, how come you haven't like, given him a hose-down with an aqua edge? Lloyd, you smell like the outhouse!"

Kratos merely gave him a somewhat irritated look. Lloyd was still sitting on the ground looking extremely peeved. Suddenly Lloyd lurched up and body slammed Zelos off the platform into the muddy sewage below.

"Lloyd!" Kratos yelled angrily as he had to go rescue Zelos now.

"Heellp, these clothes costs a lot of money! Hellllp!"

"Oh bother," Sheena said, slapping her hand to her forehead as she looked at Lloyd rolling on the floor laughing and coughing at the same time. She was about to kick him when she thought better of that. "Regal, meet Lloyd. He's an idiot, but he really is a nice boy."

Lloyd sat up and did his best to control himself. "Hi, who're you?"

"Lloyd, meet Regal. Regal was my neighbor in jail. He's a total gentleman, and he's the one that kicked you into the sewage."

"What!" Lloyd stood up quickly.

"Look he didn't know what you guys were, flying around with your wings. And since he was picking up the rear of our group we didn't notice you guys flying in from behind."

Regal took a step out and offered Lloyd a hand. "I am grievously sorry for my actions, please forgive me for not realizing you were on our side."

Lloyd thought about shaking his hand with his sludge-covered ones just be rude... but the man looked so apologetic that he shook his head. "Nah, it's ok, you don't need to shake my hand, it's nasty... Good um, good to meet you. Sheena, can't you do something about this, like call Undine or something to give me a bath??"

"Oh, Undine!" Sheena said in surprise. "I keep forgetting about her. Yeah, maybe she could give you a soapy rinse or something. Ah, Zelos is here too, good."

Once Kratos let go of Zelos, he made a mad dash at Lloyd—who burst out laughing at the sight of him—and wrestled him to the ground, holding the front of his shirt. "Lloyd, you little freak—!"

"Hey, stop it, you idiots, I'm gonna call Undine and see if she can give you guys a nice warm spa, okay? Happy?"

Kratos walked toward the unknown man standing next to Sheena. "I am sorry, I do not think we have met?"

Sheena quickly turned around and introduced the two men. She almost laughed at how formal and perfect their introduction went—all except the fact that Kratos adamantly refused to shake Regal's hand since it was covered in grime.

"Undine!"

Undine appeared, graceful as ever, as she listened to the problem at hand. She lit the corridor just as brightly as Kratos, who still hadn't put away his wings. Sheena moved over to Undine and whispered something.

Undine turned around and smiled. Sheena realized she didn't need to whisper, they were telepathically connected already._ Well, the choices are_ _ocean breeze, sea mist—_

_Something flowery!_

—_kelp clean, sacred lotus, fragrant water lil—_

_Fragrant water lily! And make it extra strength!_

Suddenly a torrent of fragrant, soapy water fell out of thin air above the two boys who were still trying to strangle the other. It fell for a good minute, in which Kratos walked over, stuck his hands in the column of water, and rubbed vigorously. Soon the water became clear before it ran out.

"Wow, they actually look pretty clean..." Sheena said, looking a little surprised. "and they smell excellent!"

"Thank you for your service, Undine," Kratos said, giving Undine a grateful bow. "I will take care of drying them off."

"Call on me for any other help I can offer. I will continue to pray for your journey's success." Undine and Sheena gave each other a short bow and the water spirit dissolved into mist.

Without sparing a second, Kratos quickly cast a drying spell on the two sputtering boys in front of him.

"Ahhh!! Holy crap it's hot!" Lloyd cried, fanning out his now crispy dry clothes. "The smell's choking me, it's so nauseatingly flowery!

"My hair!" Zelos shrieked, touching his frizzy hair gingerly. "Does anyone have conditioner?? I can't go out looking like this!"

"Shut up Zelos," Sheena said. "Your new caveman look does make you look a bit more manly anyway."

Kratos cleared his throat. "We must leave posthaste. Zelos, I'm assuming you led Sheena and Regal down here. Where does this passageway lead?"

Zelos gave his hair another futile comb-through with his fingers. "It leads out to the creek that runs by Meltokio," he said, sighing loudly. "We're pretty close to the opening now, just follow me." He walked forward and grumbled something about how at least it should still be dark outside.

In the next half hour, Kratos found himself in easy conversation with the new member of the group, Regal. The man was noble and intelligent. He was still rather tight-lipped about just how he ended up in jail, but Kratos didn't inquire any further either. Then it hit him. Regal Bryant. Regal Bryant was the famous president of the Lezarano Company... Kratos had gone back through various newspapers from the past thirty years at Yuan's library to have a more conscious idea of the current trends, and the Lezarano Company scandal had been front page news in Altamira at least a decade ago. The man that stood before him now barely resembled the smartly dressed young president from the newspaper images, but the color of his hair and eyes betrayed his relation. Kratos thought it somewhat strange that the man gave his name rather freely now. Perhaps he figured most of the world had already forgotten about him...

"—are you kidding?? That's awesome!! Sheena, couldn't you have gotten Undine to grab you a camera or something??" Lloyd was laughing so hard, he was trying to wipe tears away as Zelos put him in another headlock and gave him a harder noogie.

"Hey man, I was just as surprised, I didn't even think of Undine! It took Regal like hours to stop referring to him as 'she' even after he took off the dress! I have to say I was sad to—"

"Shut up, Sheena!" Zelos cried. "I'm not gonna even try to save you next time!"

"Oh come on, Zelos, it was fun!"

"Well, Sheena, he did sacrifice the color of his hair and wore a dress to save you! Hey, Zelos, you didn't finish, what'd Princess Hilda tell you?" Lloyd asked Zelos, after he released his grip on him.

"Not really anything I couldn't figure out. Sooner or later I need to get back here and get rid of that Pope. Hilda's now saying she's pretty certain the king's been poisoned. But without evidence, she can't do much. She's sent plenty of people to go look through the Pope's office and quarters in secret, but hasn't found anything. She's been trying the King's food ever since she got that suspicion, but after feeling sick the first couple of times, the food's been fine ever since. Now I think they're putting it in her food, but she can't figure out just who is doing it. She's afraid to question her servants just yet, but at least her chambermaid seems fairly loyal enough. She makes sure Hilda gets an alternate set of dishes than the official set sent to her room."

"Why can't she just order some warrant or whatever? She's the freakin' princess!" Lloyd said exasperatedly.

"She actually doesn't have too much power. Even less than me. The Meltokio royalty has a pretty weird line of succession. If the King dies and has no son, the throne goes to me—unless I'm expected to perform my Chosen duties that year. Otherwise it will go to the Pope. It's only if the Pope dies as well somehow, that the Princess will take the throne. That's why he hadn't bothered with the princess until now, when he got alerted to the fact that she seemed to be on to him."

"Poor Princess Hilda... what a nerve-wracking situation," Sheena said, shaking her head. "She's actually pretty nice too... hey, is that the exit??"

"Yeah, it is! Let's go!!" The three of them immediately broke into a frantic dash, trying to make it to the outside first. Lloyd won, but Zelos dismissed him as being unfairly superhuman.

When the two older men showed up, the kids already had their Rheairds on and ready to go. Kratos offered Regal a ride on his own.

It wasn't until they took the quick teleport over the Flanoir base to Triet, that something clearly had gone wrong.

"That's... that's the Tower of Salvation! What happened?? How??" Lloyd cried. "No!! Colette!! I'm so sorry!" Without another thought, he put the foot to the pedal and shot toward Iselia, leaving everyone else behind in shock.

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**Review folks!! Sorry it took so long!**

_**Review!**_


	35. Chapter 35: The Journey of Inquiries

**Greetings all, yes it's been quite a while! I'd been wrestling with this chapter forever, and I'm glad to finally call it done after so much surgery! **

**I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and all the yummy food and presents that comes with it!** **And I hope no one got sick like I still am... I still can't decide whether it's better to be sick during the holidays or during work/school...**

**I've more or less beat this chapter to death, so let me know what you think! If you see anything that can be smoothed out or have extra suggestions for the story, let me know! I generally read over my chapters over the course of the next few days and change stuff that I never catch the first few times around. Which means there _could_ be a lot of extra stuff added/changed by next week!**

**On a not-terribly-random-note, who's got the ToS sequel and what do you guys think of it? I haven't played it yet, I'm still debating on taking off the plastic wrapper and possibly subjecting myself to a crappy sequel story...  
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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 35: The Journey of Inquiries

He hadn't been gone that long... had he?

But he had.

How did he forget her birthday? The Day of the Oracle was supposed to come on Colette's sixteenth birthday. They all knew the Day was approaching, but they must've not taken it seriously enough. This whole time, he actually didn't think the Tower of Salvation would actually appear... Everyone thought so. It shouldn't have appeared. Isn't that what his dad said?

How many days has he been gone?

It couldn't have been more than a couple days...

Lloyd tilted his Rheaird further forward, noting the end of the Triet mountain chain and the Iselian plains coming into view over the horizon. The rising sun had just turned the sky into brilliant shades of yellows, pinks, and oranges...but the bright morning rays of light could only be seen reflecting off the top levels of the Tower.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This wasn't the Iselia he remembered. Since Raine told them about Yggdrasil's Judgement rampage on Iselia, Lloyd hadn't returned to see for himself since all the people he actually cared about made it out.

Houses were half destroyed and large debris still lay brushed off to the sides of paths. Some of the houses looked fairly well repaired, and Lloyd could detect that the town wasn't devoid of human life. More importantly, the one house that mattered still had signs of life.

He half walked, half ran toward the large house in the back corner of town. Half of the house was gone, but the townspeople seemed to have done a decent job of temporarily walling off what would have been a large open cut-section on the right side. The morning sun now lit only the very tip of the chimney that still stood at the back of the house.

Lloyd knocked on the door as he used to do when Colette lived there, half expecting her to open the door. But for the first time, a tired middle-aged man answered. "Lloyd! What a surprise!"

"Mr. Brunel, I'm sorry for waking—"

"I wasn't sleeping anyway, come in, son," Colette's father replied. Lloyd noticed that his eyes were red, and his walk was slow and tired. Maybe he shouldn't have come...

"You missed her Lloyd. I'm sorry. The Day of Prophecy came two days earlier than was expected. She is now on the Journey of Regeneration. May Martel protect her." His voice broke on the last words.

Lloyd felt a constriction in his throat. Whenever he came to Colette's house, he came to find her. Her father was always just someone that you always greeted on the side. Now that Colette wasn't here, Mr. Brunel seemed almost larger than life. He was always a quiet, wonderfully nice man that never said much, but he always had a smile on his face. There wasn't a smile there now, and he hardly looked recognizable as the man Lloyd knew.

"Mr. Brunel. When did Colette leave?"

"The light came before dawn two days ago... By the time all was said and done, they were mobilized to leave early that afternoon. Colette hardly had time to pack her bags before getting rushed out. Oh, she left a note for you, follow me."

Lloyd followed Mr. Brunel to the kitchen where he took out what looked like a scrap piece of paper out of an envelope.

_Lloyd_

_The light just came and the angel appeared and everything is just like what we've been taught! I don't understand, but it seems real enough. The angel said we are going to the Fire Temple first and that he will accompany me himself. He seems really nice, so maybe what we saw was a mistake or something. I don't know what to do though, I'm thinking I shouldn't ask him anything about the Tower of Salvation that we went to or anything. I hope you get this letter soon and you can tell your dad and Mr. Yuan what's going on! The angel's really pretty and really nice, so don't worry about me, I'm sure I'm okay. Maybe your dad and Mr. Yuan can talk to the angel and see if there was some misunderstanding. I hardly have any time, so I can't write as much as I'd like to. I think the angel said the Fire Temple was near Triet, so maybe I'll get to see you soon!_

_Colette_

Lloyd smacked his forehead with his hand. "OH MARTEL! Mr. Brunel, did you see the angel and what he looked like?"

"Angel?"

"She said the angel was supposed to come with her."

"Oh yes, the guardian. There were the four elder priests bound to protect her, and a handsome young priest. I assume the young priest must be the guardian angel? Colette never mentioned much about the incident when she came home."

"What did he look like?"

Mr. Brunel's eyes seem to brighten at the thought. "Oh, he had hair the color of the brightest gold and eyes of the bluest sky. He wore a beautiful robe of the purest white. I didn't know he was an angel, but it makes sense now you say it. A very grand young man, if I may say so."

"So Colette, this priest and the four elders are going to the Fire Temple?"

"Actually, only Colette and the young priest will be journeying, but yes, they said they were headed for the Fire Temple in Triet," Mr. Brunel said, but quickly narrowed his eyes. "Lloyd, you are not serious about going to find Colette are you? This is a sacred journey and I'm not sure you will be received well. In fact, even the four elder priests were told they were not needed and given orders to stay at the Temple of Martel."

Lloyd widened his eyes in surprise. "It doesn't matter. I need to see her, she can't just leave by herself!"

"Wait!"

But Lloyd had already disappeared, leaving only the front door swinging freely as any sign that he actually physically used it. Mr. Brunel stood there amazed. Surely, no one can run that fast... Putting down the watering can, he walked out and closed the door behind him, heading toward the Temple of Martel to speak with Phaidra.

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Lloyd stood outside the town, debating whether he should jump on the Rheaird and scout out Colette... or go visit Dirk for a bit, since he hadn't seen him in such a long time. Instead he just thought about what he had just heard.

This priest had to be Ygg. Yuan was right. They were complete idiots for not trying to put more effort into looking for him! Then again, no one expected him to show up so quickly... Why did he come back if he should still be seriously injured from Shadow? Or is he already recovered? This is an awfully bold move by him to just come out and escort Colette himself.

The thought of him being so near Colette made Lloyd cringe. He took out his wing pack and opened it.

He fired up the Rheaird and slowly grazed the top of trees as he made his way down to Triet. This was a dumb way to find anything, Lloyd thought. And what would he do if he did meet the Ygg?? The thought froze him as he quickly cast a spell for Incognito on himself.

_Ding! Ding, ding!_

Lloyd stopped and looked around wildly, trying to find whoever was pelting his Rheaird with rocks. Oh Martel, the paint jo—!

"Lloyd! Get down here this instant!"

Lloyd froze at the voice below him. Not wasting a second, he landed the Rheaird and saw his mother lying against a tree.

"Mom, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you b—"

"If you're trying to find Colette like this, I can't imagine how long you'd survive before some Desian would just shoot you out of the sky!"

"So, shouldn't you be—"

"I came with Colette back to Iselia when no one else would."

"So did you see that angel and stuff?? It was Ygg right??"

"Possibly. I've personally never seen him before, Lloyd, so I wouldn't know what he looks like. Then again, the light came so suddenly and unexpectedly that when I hurried to Iselia, something really didn't feel right. I decided to just view things from a distance."

"So why are you all the way over here? You could at least rest at the rest stop over the ridge. Or... mom, where's your Rheaird?"

"I gave it to Colette to use in case of emergency."

"How—"

"I've been flying with the wings so of course I'm not going to fly into the rest stop. It's been a pain having to navigate through forests and hide myself."

"Did you see Colette come by here?"

"No, they walked a ways out to the fields outside Iselia and the next thing I knew, a large brilliant bird appeared and carried them away."

"WHAT?"

"I believe it could be the summon spirit of the sun, Asuka. I saw an illustration of it in one of Yuan's books."

"I thought Mithos still had control over all the summon spirits besides Origin and Maxwell!"

"Does he? This priest acted holy enough, making a fine scene summoning the bird. Come on Lloyd, where's your father? We need to go back to Triet right now."

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"Where could they have gone? Surely, they would go to the Fire Seal first near Triet..."

They were back in their conference room. Yuan, Mithos, Kratos, Anna, Lloyd, Genis, Raine, Sheena, and Zelos.

"There has been no reports of any disturbance at the Triet ruins," Yuan said. "If that was Asuka, then they could travel anywhere across Sylvarant... while our Rheairds are still limited by Volt's range."

"Yggdrassil must somehow know that." Kratos said. "I'm certain that's why he's gone to break the seals on the other continent first. We must act quickly. It seems he is not settling for the traditional way of giving Chosens long-suffering trials. I just hope he's not compensating by giving concentrated doses of those 'trials'."

"Why's he doing this again?" Mithos asked, confused.

Yuan and Kratos stared at him.

"Mithos," Kratos said slowly and clearly. "Remember, your other half wants to revive Martel, and if that's the main reason his personality was born in the first place, it would be natural to assume that it's his highest priority. Colette possesses the closest signature to Martel since Yggdrassil started the Chosen project, and we should have known in advance that he would do anything to realize his dream of successfully bringing Martel's spirit back in Colette's body."

"Wait," Raine said, looking unnerved. "Will you clarify that? I don't believe we have been properly briefed on what Yggdrasil is having Colette used for."

Yuan sighed. "Yggdrasil's plan these past four thousand some years was to breed out someone who could embody the closest mana signature to Martel and use that person as a host body. That is really what the Chosens are for. In Tethe'alla, brides or grooms are handpicked by the priest. In Sylvarant, the priest also had the final word on compatibility of matches. Sometimes they also handpicked partners for the Sylvarant Chosen as well."

"So what's with the trials?"

"The idea was to antagonize the Cruxis Crystal and make it feed faster. It was also a cover for balancing the two worlds since breaking all the seals in one world would awaken the summon spirits of that world and re-energize the mana. It's been a long time for Sylvarant though. The Chosen needed to succeed this time around. It just also played into Ygg's favor that Colette had a very good match with Martel. He was thinking of sending someone to ensure her success and I'm pretty sure he wasn't thinking of himself."

"I wonder though, I was pretty sure I had Asuka and Luna's pact..." Mithos said. "Maybe he did take everything. Or maybe we're actually still connected somehow."

"The split must not have been as clear as we thought. You can't exactly test out whether you do have them or not since you don't have enough mana, right?"

Mithos sank back in his chair, a slight frown on his face. "It's a feeling though... I know he hasn't left me at all. Not like Undine, where her presence is clearly gone and is with Sheena now."

Zelos leaned back in his seat and sighed. "Well, looks like we'll need Sheena here to make a solid pact with Volt so she can actually summon him, and he can help us get unlimited wireless Rheaird coverage for Sylvarant."

Lloyd shot up angrily. "But by the time we do that, Colette might be dead already!"

"Well, genius, if you don't mind flying miles on your wings and have people gawk at you, be my guest. Honestly, we'd probably meet about the same time it takes us to form a pact with Volt, and for you to get lost flitting around above some ocean."

Lloyd sat down, trying to quench a sudden flare of anger toward Zelos. Zelos was right, and somehow that just made him angrier. "Fine."

Zelos shrugged. "Honestly, Lloyd, I don't think the Ygg plans to kill her, so chill out."

"Zelos is right about Volt. Regardless of the present situation, we need his pact anyway for the Rheairds to fully function in Sylvarant," Yuan said. "However, those of us who can fly should go and seek out any information on their whereabouts."

"Excellent, sounds like a plan!" Zelos said, clapping his hands and standing up for a stretch. "Well, I believe those going to find Volt would be my handsome self, my well-endowed beauty queen, the Professor, and a squirt."

"What!" Genis cried.

"See, you totally acknowledged it, squirt!"

Genis turned bright red in anger or embarrassment, Lloyd couldn't tell. "Well, I may be small, but I bet my brain's bigger!" At which, Raine immediately smacked him hard on the head. "Such hubris, Genis!"

"Yes, such hubris, Zelos," Sheena said, smacking him in the back of the head. "—for someone who couldn't have picked a worst shade of red to re-dye his hair!"

"It's not my fault there hasn't been sufficient technology to re-create the rare, subtle, autumn hues of my hair..." Zelos replied, dodging another swipe from Sheena. "Anyway crew, so who're the lucky winged ones who get to go treasure-hunting?"

Yuan, Kratos, Mithos, Anna, and Lloyd all looked at each other. Lloyd looked extra confused. "You mean we're not all gonna just go?"

"I stay here as usual," Anna said.

Kratos frowned. "Well, I was thinking of going by Lake Umacy during our inquiries on the Chosen. The unicorn always seemed to favor the bottom of that particular lake more often than any other. Perhaps, when the Volt group meets with us after their journey, Sheena can call upon Undine to drain the lake—if the unicorn is there."

"That doesn't mean Anna has to be there, Kratos," Mithos said. "I'm not much help myself, so I'll stay here with Anna."

Kratos sighed. "I'm sorry, Anna, I swear you'll be on your feet soon enough."

"Don't be, I can't ask for more than what I have already."

"We can leave as soon as all of us are ready," Yuan said.

"Well, _we're_ gonna sleep first," Zelos retorted, yawning loudly. "_We_ can leave after breakfast tomorrow!"

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**Alllright! Gimme some REVIEWS!! Ah, I look forward to working on the next chapter, no promises on whether it's gonna give me a headache and take forever, especially after this one. I DO promise to always be working on the latest chapter and doing my best to get it out with my utmost satisfaction!**


	36. Chapter 36: Unexpected Hope

**Bet you guys didn't expect to see him so soon after my long absences! This chapter was super fun to write, I hope you guys enjoy it! I noticed I lost a lot of my old readers/reviewers, which makes me very sad... but hello to the new readers! **

**It's 2009, how crazy! Hope everyone had a great new year, and enjoy the coming Lunar New Year!**

**I'm too poor to own Symphonia, eh.  
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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 36: Unexpected Hope

Regal leaned against the warm walls of the Triet Renegade base, watching the stars of Sylvarant slowly materialize in the darkening sky. He had never seen a desert before. There was a strange beauty in the desolation. Sylvarant, the world of fairy tales. The world mothers would tell their children to keep them from straying too far from home. You might disappear like those other people did, and find yourself in a terrible, dying land with no food to eat and no water to drink. It was a little exaggerated, Regal thought, but as much as he's seen, it could be true. But, Sylvarant existed. He was standing in it now. Does this mean everything he has been briefed about—the real story of the world—also stood true? This little group of renegades had no reason to lie. They had already proven themselves to possess powers beyond his knowledge, and a compassion toward half-elves that was beyond comprehension.

The door next to him slid open.

"I hope you do not mind some company to watch the stars with," Kratos said as he walked towards him.

"Not at all, you are most welcome."

"I apologize for the hurried explanation before the meeting and the short time for you to digest it. If there is anything you want to ask, please feel free. As much as Yuan wants to leave as quickly as possible, his business matters are still best taken care of now."

"It is not good to leave a desk cluttered before a trip. I understand very well," Regal said, staring absently at a small whirlwind pick up not far from him. Then he turned and looked at Kratos. "I do have a question. I see that many of you have advanced ex-spheres. What prevents you from turning into monsters?"

Kratos looked at him in surprise. How did he know about exbulas...? "The ex-spheres are controlled by a keycrest. A keycrest is made from inhibi—"

"Yes, but there are some ex-spheres that still cannot be controlled."

"Yes... that is true. I'm surprised you know so much about them, since not many people in Tethe'alla know about them."

"I do know about them. I also know that the ex-spheres you, your wife, and Yuan wear look as blood red as the one Alicia wore before... before she..."

Regal stared at his hands, straining against the large, metal shackles. Alicia...

Kratos suddenly understood. "You had to kill the one you loved."

"She begged me to! Th-that thing! That leech! That turned her into a monster, a mutated beast so unlike the beautiful, sweet girl she is. She could not control herself—and wanted me to kill her before she might hurt me! Could there be any crime more heinous? I killed the one I loved!"

Kratos swallowed a lump in his throat. It was a strange feeling, not one he was used to. "I...had thought I had done the same thing many years ago. Anna very nearly died. To this day I am reminded by her wheelchair."

Regal opened his eyes which he had squeezed shut. "Truly, I could not imagine that someone else had been subject to a similar tragedy. I am very sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry about. Had Yuan not had been there to catch her fall, I may not even be standing here of my own accord."

"Alicia... Alicia loved life. That is the only reason I still stand here before you."

There was a moment of silence. Kratos wasn't too eager to fill the void, but a question had been brewing in the back of his mind. "I find it strange that Tethe'alla conducted experiments on Cruxis Crystals. Other than the Crystals bestowed upon Chosens at the Day of Prophecy, no other Crystals should exist. The one on Anna was a secret experiment of one of the Desian Ranch leaders."

"If something valuable exists, man will find a way to re-produce it. Alicia was taken from me by a man named Vharley. Where he took her, I never discovered. I traced him to Meltokio, but I had sightings in Sybak as well. I never knew anything about Cruxis Crystals. My business had always been in the trading of ex-spheres and other precious metals dug from the earth."

"So you are Duke Regal Bryant, President of the Lezareno Company."

"I was. Now I am no more."

"I see, I'm sorry. When you said Sybak, you reminded me of something. What do you know of Vharley? I have heard of that name from somewhere else."

"Vharley is a notorious ex-sphere broker who goes to great lengths to make a profit. He is infamous for his ruthless trade in anything that could get him money. Much of his ex-spheres were stolen, and anything else he had to sell came from unknown sources. He...is a monster. He was the one who brought Alicia back, told me she was unfit, and tortured her in front of me. I made a deal to go to prison if Vharley was captured."

Kratos crossed his arms. "I assume Vharley did not go to the same prison you inhabited."

"No, I don't believe so."

"What if Vharley never went to prison?"

Regal gave him a hard, questioning look.

"Trust is a privilege seldom earned. If you did not see him go to prison, I have every reason to believe he never saw the walls of a prison cell. We met some half-elf scientists in Sybak who were being oppressed and forced to conduct experiments on Cruxis Crystals. They told us that a man named Vharley had been bringing a girl to them every month. Vharley is not a common name, so I can only assume the two are the same person. We rescued the scientists about a week ago and they currently reside at this facility."

"I need to see them!"

"I want you to realize first, that these scientists may have worked on Alicia. And if they have, they did so under orders and not of their own wishes."

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"Lloyd, my friend, it seems the heavens have frowned upon you. My party may leave before you and your party of supernaturals. Let us come to my room and have a drink."

Lloyd stopped drumming his fingers on a break room table and turned around at the unmistakable drawl that was Zelos' voice. "No, thanks."

"Party pooper, you. Hey, I know, why don't we go grab Sheena and take care of Volt tonight while Yuan's still pushing papers?"

"Are you serious, didn't you say you needed something called 'sleep'?"

"Enthusiasm overcomes everything!"

"There's no way Sheena would go."

"Well, if we just take off, she'll have to follow..."

"Hmm, I wonder what happened the last time that happened..."

"You know what happened! Sheena made her very first pact with the water spirit Undine!"

"And I nearly died, and nearly died again at my dad's hands when we got home. Yuan almost killed you, too, if you remember."

"Surface wounds. They healed soon enough. I'm just saying, you have to wait for old men to get ready. Did Yuan say how long he was gonna take?"

Lloyd started drumming his fingers impatiently again. "No. I could just take off myself to go search for Colette. You can go take care of Volt."

Zelos sighed. "That defeats the purpose, dude. I want this to be a TEAM EFFORT!"

"Then come with me instead!"

"Gahhhh, defeating a summon spirit is way more interesting than canvassing people!"

"Fine."

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant! Colette is one hell of a hunny, of course I want to save her! But it'd be a lot faster and easier if we could just zip around on Rheairds! Oh and by the way, I can't fly. Just a note."

Lloyd widened his eyes. "Oh, right... sorry. I'm just really worried—"

"Of course you're worried! Let's go!"

Lloyd wasn't sure how he found himself getting dragged by Zelos down the hall toward their rooms, but after a few seconds of watching Zelos throwing toiletries into a bag, he shook his head. "Wait, you're serious??"

Zelos stopped in mid-throw of some underwear and stared at Lloyd incredulously.

"Dude, I alrea—"

"What are you guys doing?"

Zelos looked up and saw Sheena at the door. "We're having a man talk, Sheena."

"Over your underwear, Zelos? Lloyd doesn't look like he's enjoying it too much. Me and Genis were looking for you, Lloyd. I want to play cards, and Genis wants to learn since he's never played before."

"Weren't you guys gonna get some sleep??"

"Lloyd, the sun set like maybe thirty minutes ago," Zelos said. "Normal human beings don't usually go to sleep so early... especially when we have amazing Tethe'allan artificial light technology! Cards! I'm in! The squirt's gonna lose hella money tonight!"

"You still owe me the bottle of Meltokio 300, Zelos," Sheena said dryly. "Not to mention, I'm not sure Genis has any money to bet with."

"Look, I forgot to get the bottle last time I was home! Things were a bit unstable when I got back, if you don't remember... Wait, you got ninja hands, it's unfair. We should ban you from card games."

"Ha ha, so funny. I'm the one who owns the deck of cards—"

"...and that's why they're loaded—"

"Are not, you check it every time and it's the same," Sheena snapped, then softened her expression when she saw Lloyd's miserable look. "Oh cheer up, Lloyd. I'm sure Yuan will finish his stuff quickly and you'll be on your way soon enough."

"Speaking of the squirt!" Zelos suddenly said, as Genis poked his head out behind Sheena.

"Shut up, Zelos... Hey, Lloyd! I just saw your dad! He's with uh, with... the new guy—"

"Regal?" Sheena prompted, arching an eyebrow.

"Right! They were rushing off to the transporter to Tethe'alla."

"What business does old man Kratos have in Tethe'alla?" Zelos said, tossing his underwear in the bag.

"To get some Flanoir hot chocolate?" Lloyd said, his face brightening up.

"Right, Lloyd," Sheena said, rolling her eyes. "Your dad and Regal're probably the last people who would go on an emergency hot chocolate run."

Zelos crossed his arms and smiled widely. "Let's not be so negative now, Sheena. I say we go follow them and see what bad news they're up to... and if it turns out to just be Kratos showing Regal the better toilets on the Tethe'alla side of base, then we can just go grab some hot chocolate ourselves!"

"It's none of our business!" Sheena snapped. "Honestly, Zelos, it'd be nice if you'd act your age once in a while!"

"We've got plenty of time to be old, Sheena, c'mon," Zelos said, patting Sheena on the back and pushing her out the door.

Lloyd scratched his head and walked over to Genis, who still stood at the doorway after Zelos had rushed pass him with Sheena.

"Hey, Lloyd, I was wondering... Why would Yuan suddenly say he has stuff to do when he was the one who told you guys that he wanted to leave as soon as possible?"

"Maybe Uncle Botta finally tied him down to his desk to make him finish all the paperwork piling up since Uncle Yuan might be gone for a long time on this trip—at least that's what Uncle Botta told me."

Genis had his hand on his chin as he slowly walked with Lloyd in the corridor. "Well, I went to go see what Raine was up to earlier."

"And?"

"And I saw that Yuan and her were both in the library reading and talking!"

"What! Well, maybe Uncle Yuan has to look up some stuff for his paperwork..."

"I guess..."

"Well, let's go find Zelos and Sheena. I wanna see what my dad's up to. Whatever it is, it's probably secret and cool."

"Man, your dad's really hit it off with the Regal guy. I don't think he's talked to anyone except your dad."

"They both talk and act the same. He seems kinda angry."

"Maybe he's really shy."

"Maybe... you saw those muscles though right? I don't think I'd be shy with those, man."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Yuan's experimental technology lab occupied a large quadrant of the Tethe'alla base and included the trans-dimensional warp that connected both bases. While Yuan had tried to keep both bases relatively equal in living and defense necessities, the Tethe'alla base was mainly used as his training and research center. Since the Sylvarant base began construction first, Yuan had it built as his main base of operation, complete with his living quarters. Botta, his second-in-command, resided in the Tethe'alla side. He was also the one responsible for carrying out Yuan's building and technological designs. After many years of overseeing the work, he and a team of half-elves with a knack for the sciences gained a good understanding of the advanced technology and continued studying all books Yuan had on engineering and mana.

When Kate, Seph, and Kyle arrived after Yuan's rescue mission in Sybak, they nearly fainted out of shock at the technology before them. Yuan had helped them transport as much material they had on their Cruxis Crystal research as they could without too much suspicion. Thankfully, of all the personal belongings they had, they were happy enough with only the clothes on their back. They were first introduced to Botta and the team of scientists in Tethe'alla, and given comfortable rooms.

Thus, it was in the midst of more introductory briefings between Botta and the three newcomers that Kratos and Regal walked in.

By the time the door slid away, all heads were already turned in Kratos' direction. Regal nearly jumped, but quickly remembered that Kratos had told him that they could sense mana.

"Kratos, sir! Regal! Good to see you!" Botta said, grinning broadly as he walked over.

"Sorry for interrupting your meeting, Botta," Kratos said, and turned his head toward the three scientists from Sybak. "I'm very glad to see you all safely arrived here."

"Did you find what you were looking for in Meltokio?" asked Kate suddenly.

"Yes... yes, I did. Thank you for asking," replied Kratos, surprised. "I would like to introduce my friend, Regal Bryant. He has some questions he would like to ask, if you have some time."

"Not a problem, we were not in any hurry," Botta said and introduced the three scientists to Regal.

Regal found it exceedingly strange to be in a room full of so many half-elves. It was not quite as uncomfortable as he originally thought, though the three scientists seemed more guarded. "Hi, I understand that all of you were involved in Cruxis Crystal research. I knew someone who was a Cruxis Crystal research subject and was taken from me by a man named Vharley. Vharley is responsible for her tragic death, and I was told that he was sent to prison years ago. Kratos tells me that you had all been in regular contact with him recently—which means he is not in jail. Could you help me confirm or deny this?"

There was a moment of silence afterwards. Regal instinctively tried to move his hands to his pockets, then remembered he couldn't.

Kate finally spoke up. "Yes, we have been contact with Vharley. He brought us the current subject every month for the past sixteen years. He has never missed an appointment, so I can only assume he has never been sent to jail. You mention that your friend met a tragic death. Since our assignment to this particular research, we had had only one death, which is the current subject's younger sister, Alicia Combatir. May I ask if this is she?"

The blood drained out of Regal's face at the sound of Alicia's name. "Yes, that is correct." A second passed before Regal realized that Kate had said Alicia's sister is the _current_ subject. "I was not aware that Alicia's older sister is still a part of the research. May I ask if you know where she is?"

"I'm sorry, we know nothing about our subjects except for their research data. I can only tell you that we last saw her almost a month ago. She is supposed to be due back to see us in..."

"Kate, she's supposed to see us tomorrow!" Seph said suddenly. "I wonder if...if..."

"If anyone's noticed that you have all escaped?" Botta finished helpfully. "Yes, according to our reports, the authorities were alerted a couple days after you escaped. They still have no leads as of now, but we will keep watch for a long while yet."

"Do you think Vharley will still bring her? I wonder if he knows yet..." Kyle said.

"When does he bring her?" Kratos asked.

"We never know, they come when they come."

"Kratos," Regal said urgently. "I cannot stand and take no action on Alicia's behalf. I am sorry that I may not be able to join your men on the journey to find Volt, but this must take precedence."

"You do not need to make any apologies, Regal."

"Excuse me," Kyle said hesitantly, "I am very happy that you want to save Presea, but I think it may be helpful for you to know that she now lacks all sense of emotion. She may not respond to you at all and may attack you out of a survival instinct."

"What?"

"The Cruxis Crystal responded very well with Presea and when we first put it on her, nothing seemed amiss. As the months went by, we realized that she seemed more and more robotic with every visit. By the end of the first year, she could not be made to show any excitement regardless of what we did. She became oblivious to her surroundings and would only listen to a few commands at a time. One other thing, she had also stopped aging. Her body is that of a twelve-year-old, even though sixteen years has passed since we first put the crystal on her."

Kratos looked over at Regal, whose stare had become fixed in disbelief.

"I understand. But it is my duty to find and protect her. Thank you for your help and your advice."

Seph stood up and offered Regal his hand. "We are very sorry about Alicia, sir. I hope you will be able to save her sister."

Kratos crossed his arms and sighed. "Zelos, Sheena, I know you're behind the door, come here."

At which Kratos suddenly heard someone try to run and Sheena yelling out a curse. Not soon after, Sheena was dragging Zelos through the door. "I'm sorry, Kratos..."

"How did—?" Regal started but was quickly cut off by Zelos. "Kratos can sense mana, I FORGOT."

Kate looked at Kratos then back at her colleagues.

"Hello hun, my name's Zelos, nice to meet you."

Kate jumped and turned around. "H-hello, I-I'm Kate."

Zelos arched an eyebrow. The guy named Seph looked extremely angry. These guys don't seem to know who he is...

"You are the Chosen! Seph, that's right, his mana signature is almost as skewed as his!" Kyle suddenly cried, pointing at Kratos.

There was a muffled laugh that no one heard. But Kratos. "This is absurd. Lloyd, show yourself at once."

There was another sound of a minor scuffle, and through the door came Lloyd, who dragged Genis in by the back of his shirt.

"Hi! I remember you guys!" cried Seph.

"Hey, how goes it," muttered Lloyd in return.

Kratos looked the same as ever, except for his clenched jaw. Right as he was going to speak, Zelos cut in. "Hey, I just remembered! You guys said this girl looks young and is totally emotionless, right?"

Everyone stared at him blankly. "Er, yes, Presea lacks normal emotional reaction."

"I think I met her in Meltokio! Pink hair, deadly axe, strong as hell? That girl?"

"Yes, she does have pink hair, and has exhibited extraordinary strength."

"I nearly got killed by her just 'cause I offered to help her carry a log!" Zelos paused for a second. "Oh! Kratos! I forgot to tell you, she was dragging sacred wood to the church! Yeah, if you want some sacred wood, maybe we need to go find her!"

Kratos looked at Zelos as if he had started speaking Ogreish. "Really. Now that is interesting. Regal, if you don't mind, I should like to join you. The rest of you need to return to your rooms—immediately."

"...but!"

"Now. And I will be there to check shortly."

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**Review! It totally makes me happy!**


	37. Chapter 37: Saving Presea

**(It's crazy how many typos and mistakes I find AFTER I publish a chapter...!)**

**No secret on what this chapter will be about! So get to it and start reading, enjoying, and reviewing!**

**I wish I owned Tales of Symphonia, but I DON'T.**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 37: Saving Presea

"The sun is not going to rise any faster by you staring at the horizon, dear."

Kratos turned at the sound of Anna's voice. He had been in the library waiting all night for Regal to wake up so they could depart for Sybak. Somehow the night had never seemed so long in his life. "I guess you're right. It's a good thing sleep is optional for me. I don't think I could even sleep if I tried."

Anna wheeled herself next to Kratos and looked out the window. Dawn painted the sky in brilliant shades of pinks and oranges. It was the time of day Anna could never tire of watching. "What has you so worked up? This is not like you."

"This girl—if we find this girl—may know where we can find sacred wood. Think, Anna, once we have that then our journey is near completion."

Anna lifted an eyebrow. "Then let's hope Sheena doesn't have to form pacts with all the summon spirits first after all." The glimmer in Kratos' eyes dampened at the words, which made Anna regret her words a little. "But it will bring us that much closer to the end, you're right. I'm surprised you never knew where sacred wood was. It wasn't in any of the books here?"

"No, I never did find any references to it. I was really surprised when Zelos said this girl had some. Before Origin mentioned it, the last time I had heard of it was when the world was still one. Where it may be now, I have no idea. I think I will check the Sybak library when get there."

"How much longer are you planning on making Lloyd wait?"

"What do you mean?"

"He is beside himself over Colette. You told them you were going to have the guards watch them, but you didn't actually do it. Are you intending for him to sneak out and find Yggdrassil??"

Kratos smiled.

"Are you serious? You are going to let your own son go seek his own doom? I must be missing something."

"You are, Anna. You didn't notice that all the kids have already sneaked out about an hour ago to go find Volt?"

"What? How could I have missed that?"

"Perhaps they've improved on their sneaking ability. Don't worry, Yuan and Raine are keeping them under tight surveillance."

"They don't know, do they? How very clever of you."

"These kids are just unlucky Yuan and I still remember everything we did when we were adolescents."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"Regal, I fear that your manacles will be too conspicuous in the high-class university town of Sybak. I understand your reasoning for keeping them on as a reminder, but perhaps you should put it away for Alicia's sister's sake. Alicia would hardly mind if you took them off either, I'm sure."

Regal looked down at the handcuffs that bound his wrists. He had reached out a hand (which meant he had reached out both of his hands) to take a Rheaird wingpack from a Renegade soldier in charge of issuing equipment. Regal's immediate reaction had been to retort a harsh negative, but he always thought before he spoke, so he just took the wingpack from the soldier, thanked him, and put his hands back down.

"I'm sorry. I understand your concern, but to take these off would be an excuse for my crimes."

"It is no excuse, but compassion for her sister. If our journey proves to be fruitless, you are welcome to shackle yourself again should you feel the need."

"Sound reasoning, but again, at this point, it would only be an excuse," Regal said, and walked out the door with his wingpack.

Kratos was now feeling as if he were trying to convince a seemingly intelligent person that one plus one was not three. Sighing, he followed Regal out.

"Before we go then, we need to go find something for you to hide your hands under."

Thus, Kratos went straight to Yuan's closet. Yuan had a certain fondness for capes, mantles, and anything that billowed behind him, which Kratos could never understand. But now he had a use for it, and Yuan would probably not even notice if one of his hundred capes were missing. Then again, Kratos was pretty sure they would return before Yuan anyway.

When they walked onto the snowy grounds outside of the Tethe'alla base, Kratos took out his wingpack and showed Regal how to expand it into the winged mechanism known as the Rheaird. Regal followed suit by pulling the appropriate tabs and throwing the pack on the ground. The action was rather disconcerting since it seemed like an easy way to destroy the item instead. To Regal's pleasant surprise, however, when the pack hit the ground, a loud crack sounded and a small silver plane expanded before his eyes.

"Amazing! This is exceptional technology! I'm surprised Yuan even bothers to add color to his inventions since these are not marketed for sale."

"It's as much a mystery to me as well. He cares very much that people can choose their favorite color."

"I assume you chose your dark purple?"

"I confess I did."

"He should put these on the market. The elite class would buy these off the shelves. And when he can find a way to make them cheaper, it could become the vehicle of the future for everyone!"

"Yuan would say he's a man of creativity, not business. I think you might just be the man he's been wanting."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Kratos checked out some material from the new makeshift university library and took them outside to a table Regal found outside. The day was warm and students and scholars thronged the benches and grassy parks. The table was situated nicely under a tree next to the creek that afforded a good view of the university entrance. Kratos gave Regal a stack of some past few issues of the _Altamira Times, _then cracked open his own book (_Unique Flora of the Gaorrachia Forest_)_, _.

"Do you think Vharley would recognize you?" Kratos asked after a while, putting down the current book and reaching for another book (_The Ozette Woodlands: Sacred or Savage?)_.

"No, I hardly recognized myself when I first looked into a mirror yesterday at the base."

"Then again the manacles may give him a clue."

"It may."

And thus, they waited and continued to read their respective material.

The sunlight had noticeably dimmed, when Regal suddenly froze the sight of a man he never wanted to see again. Next to him was a girl who looked like she could be Alicia's younger sister. Quietly, he nudged Kratos' arm and nodded toward the man and the girl making their way to the university. Kratos tilted his head toward the university entrance. A man with wire-rim glasses in a white lab-coat now stood in the front, a grim look on his face as he eyed the Vharley and the girl coming toward him. Vharley seemed surprised when he noticed him. After a long conversation, the three made their way inside.

"That man is the head of the Cruxis Crystal experiment. He just told Vharley of the half-elf scientists' disappearance. I don't think it's stopping him from continuing the experiment himself though. Let's follow."

"How did you hear that?"

"I have uncommon hearing ability."

"Ah, yes, of course."

The university never closed its doors due to the unscheduled genius and unrelenting hard work of its students and scholars. However, since the night of the library massacre, the security guards had now instituted a series of random checks on anyone wanting to enter. Kratos was stopped immediately at the entrance.

"Weapons are not allowed in the building, sir."

Kratos tightened his lips in immediate irritation. "I clearly remember walking through these doors with my sword before on my last visit."

"New rules have been passed since the massacre at the library. These are enforced for your protection."

"It would be because of the library incident that I would feel unsafe without my sword. What would happen if that person returned and no one had any weapons to defend themselves?"

"There's plenty of us security guards in the building to help defend you."

"Ridic—"

"Look, man, these are just the rules, and we're here to enforce them."

At this point Kratos had to take a deep breath and push away the pleasant idea of throttling the man. "Fine, can I get my sword back when I leave?"

"Just check with the front desk security when you're done."

"Thank you."

When Kratos and Regal passed by the front desk, Kratos noted a gargantuan axe leaning against the back wall. Three guards were squatting around it and chatting animatedly about it and its unlikely petite owner.

"At least it seems one of the three is unarmed."

"You should train in hand-to-hand combat, then your weapons are always with you. If you don't like that, there's always feet," Regal said.

"The sword is an extension of my arm. It has been a lifelong companion and I have never been stripped of it. I am not helpless however, I can defend myself admirably without it."

"You seem to know where you're going even though we lost sight of those three a long time ago."

"The girl has a very altered mana signature, so I can follow it without much effort."

"Seems to be a very useful ability, along with all your other heightened abilities. Turning into angels sounds like a very worthwhile investment."

"I would advise against it, the agony of bearing the Cruxis Crystal on oneself is not worth it. Long life, heightened senses, and the ability to fly are delectable rewards, but the side-effects, incompatibility risks, and the process of creating them in the first place are too gruesome to be worth it."

"I had little intention of having anything to do with them," Regal said flatly. "Kratos, ahead are blast doors, we will not be able to proceed without a code."

Kratos pressed his ear against the thick walls of the door but heard nothing but silence for the next few minutes.

"I can break the lock easily, but we risk tripping the alarm system," Regal said.

Kratos stood back with his arms crossed, frowning at the door. After another minute, he went back and put his ear against the door. If he concentrated hard enough, he could hear an animated babble of someone talking about the best place to get Egg Bear jerky strips.

Shaking his head, Kratos leaned away from the door. The girl's mana signature was becoming fainter and fainter...below him.

"I am a fool! I know where they are headed, follow me!" He quickly ran back the way they came, out the front door, round the corner, and down an alley that ran along the side of the school. Before long, he was lifting the lid of a manhole cover hidden in the tall weeds behind the school.

"What are you doing?" Regal asked politely.

"This was where we rescued the three half-elf scientists. They had dug a secret tunnel from their dungeon that connected out to here."

"Why didn't they just escape themselves, then?"

"They could not possibly escape the city without being noticed, so they just used this as a way to see some sunlight and breathe some fresh air."

"That is truly depressing..."

Regal noted that the familiar musty stench of the sewers here was not half as bad as the sewers in Meltokio. Their goal also did not take half as long. Kratos soon motioned for him to walk quietly, and rounded the final bend. Suddenly, Kratos jumped back, crashing into Regal and nearly sending both of them to the floor.

Light was shining through the concealed opening! And right in front of them in the light stood the doctor and Vharley, seemingly caught in the middle of examining the tunnel entrance.

All of a sudden, Kratos heard a bloodcurdling scream followed by the sound of breaking chains from behind and the next thing he knew, Regal had blown past him with his right fist recoiled. Kratos winced slightly at the sound of crunching bones as Regal's vicious one-two combination knocked Vharley out cold. The scientist's jaw barely had time to drop in shock before Regal laced his hands behind the man's head and brought it down against his upraised knee. Regal was about to pick Vharley up again for another round when a girl with pink hair shot out from above, smashing a large metal table down on Regal's head. As Kratos sprang forward to help, he instinctively reached for his sword and found only air. However, he had underestimated Regal again as the burly duke simply took hold of the legs of the table, wrenched it out of the girl's hands—and threw it back on his attacker.

The moment the table left his hands, Regal realized his mistake.

In that moment of shocked hesitation, the girl, who did not seem to take note of the fact that her head had split open and was bleeding, took hold of the table once again and swung it hard sideways, connecting with Regal's belatedly raised arm. The force of impact launched Regal into a table of glass beakers and flasks on the opposite side of the room. The table collapsed under the force of the impact amid deafening noise.

Kratos tried to recall a spell to freeze opponents in their tracks and hastily mumbled out the words. The air became thick and charged, and sparks of electricity surrounded the girl. That wasn't supposed to happen...

In an instant the air around the girl exploded with electricity, zapping her unconscious and overcharging the machines in the dungeon, causing them to explode, sending shrapnel and fire shooting everywhere.

A liquid spilled on the floor, caught fire and headed towards Kratos and the unconscious girl, forcing him to grab her off the ground and summon his wings. He then flew toward Regal who was struggling to pull out large pieces of glass from his body on the far side of the room.

Fire engulfed the entire underground laboratory and a large plume of flame chased Kratos out through the hidden passageway. Flying as fast as he could carrying Regal and the girl, Kratos hurtled through the sewers and shot up through the open manhole into the twilight sky.

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**Let me know what you think of this chapter! **

**Hint: Review! (even a Presea-ish response of something monosyllabic would be delightful!)**


	38. Chapter 38: Ozette

**Your eyes deceive you not! Yes, finally, Chapter 38! Thanks to everyone who have kept up for so long!! I really apologize for this incredibly long hiatus, and I'm sure most of you guys can use a quick refresher on what's going on: **

_**Our good friend Ygg has now made off with Colette, presumably to go break the Fire seal in Sylvarant—though since Anna saw them take off on Asuka, our heroes figured they headed toward the Seals beyond the Rheairds' range! Thus, one idea is to go take care of Volt quickly, so they can search for Colette asap on region-free Rheairds. Kratos and Regal, on the other hand, had gone to Sybak to find Presea. The former heard she has access to sacred wood, the latter heard she's Alicia's sister and thus has become his duty to protect her. Kratos is super close to getting the final ingredient for the Ring of the Pact! Do they still have to break the seals on all the other summons to call Origin? Aaahh! The end seems nigh!**_

**Alas I spent this long break trying to own Tales of Symphonia, but in the end it just can't be mine.  
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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 38: Ozette

Kratos flew over Gaoracchia Forest, and gratefully landed in the first meadow he came across after the last half hour of non-stop aerial flight from Sybak. He had severely underestimated just how far he could fly carrying Regal, who most certainly had to be one of the heaviest men alive. After depositing the unconscious girl Presea, and dropping Regal as gracefully as his energy allowed, his wings instantly vanished as he collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

Regal immediately jolted awake after hitting hard ground. After spotting Kratos sitting on the ground breathing hard, he sat up and immediately focused on channeling his energy to heal himself. Kratos then merely took out a box of assorted variety gels and emptied out a few apple and orange flavor pieces for himself. As he chewed, he lay down in the grass and stared at the stars that were just starting to dot the evening sky.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"I can't believe I agreed to this!" Raine cried, gripping her Rheaird tighter as she and Yuan flew over the waters separating the frozen continent from the central continent where Volt resided.

"Just think of this as shepherding these fresh wide-eyed children into the realm of responsibility!"

"I remember you were rendered speechless by Zelos running away before and you were going to institute some security measures..."

"I trust my guards, but when they're faced with first-class booze and other delightful bribes from the richest and most powerful kid in the world, I can't blame them too much. But honestly, my parents tried everything from magic to barb wire to keep Kratos and I from running off at their age, and when they finally gave up, it wasn't as fun anymore. These kids just have to learn the lesson themselves without us nagging in the background."

"Then they should have learned their lesson the last few times they ran off! They nearly died every time!"

"Well, I guess their heads are just thicker than ours...but hey, we're here to keep watch and watch the show. At least they're excited about doing something we want them to do!"

"Zelos is the only one excited! He's the mastermind! I can't believe even Genis went with him on this ridiculous idea..."

"Don't woooorry! Hey, are you that angry? You don't look so good," Yuan said, noting also that Raine was looking deathly pale and was gripping the Rheairds handlebars so tightly that her knuckles were completely white.

"I-it's nothing. I mean, I just feel a little...a little shaky flying above open water, that's all."

"Ah... well we're pretty close now. The Temple of Lightning is just off the shore of that land mass coming up."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Zelos, Lloyd, Genis, and Sheena stood rooted at a narrow stone bridge that led to the entrance of the Temple. They had just packed up their Rheairds and were now summoning the courage to cross the bridge which spanned a bottomless chasm. They were high up on the summit of Tethe'alla's highest peak where the wind blew in cold, waling gales.

For some reason, Zelos did not think the Temple would look anything like this. It was like a haunted house. The sky was permanently covered with black, ominous clouds that constantly flashed with lightning. The trees in the area look to have been dead for centuries. The air felt charged and tense. There was never a moment of silence as the end of one roll of thunder would only signal the beginning of another. Zelos was sure he was going to suffer hearing loss by the time they finish.

"I-I still think we should've waited for Raine... l-lightning strikes can be deadly..." Genis said, trying to keep the waver out of his voice.

"We've got loads of life bottles and apple gels, don't worry," Zelos said, slapping Genis on the back.

"Then you get to cross the bridge first since you're so brave!" Sheena said angrily, pushing him forward. "You can be our lightning rod so the rest of us can run on by—hey Lloyd! What are you doing??"

Lloyd had walked on forward onto the bridge, stopping well before the section where large bolts of lightning frequently struck. Genis ran forward and grabbed onto Lloyd's arm. "I'm going with you, Lloyd!"

"Well, Sheena, don't you just feel so big and brave now?" Zelos said dryly.

"Whatever, I wasn't trying..."

"Yo Lloyd, your hair's standin' up!"

Sheena whacked Zelos hard on the back of the head. "Very funny, his hair always loo—what's that noise?"

A high-pitched humming sound filled the air. Everyone stopped what they were doing and started looking behind them and all around. Genis backtracked off the bridge and started inspecting a rock, while Zelos took out his sword and looked at it.

"Hey dudes, it's my sword, it's like poss—"

"GET INSIDE, ALL OF YOU!"

Everyone spun around at once and saw Raine running towards them. "STOP GAWKING AND GET INSIDE, NOW!"

It wasn't so much because of _why_ Raine would want them to run inside but because of Raine's look and voice of terror that had Genis reminded of moments before a spanking, and the others of the times when they were caught sleeping or talking through a particular favorite history lesson of Raine's. No questions needed to be asked, they were in trouble, and Volt's domain suddenly seemed like an excellent place to be.

About a minute after they got inside, they were blinded by light and deafened by sound. It seems they had just narrowly escaped death by lightning, which struck the bridge they were just on.

Moments later, Yuan emerged from a ditch outside. He eyed the temple he had last visited with Kratos, Mithos, and Martel, and sighed heavily. With a flip of a switch, he quickly minimized both his and Raine's rheairds and stuffed them in his bag of infinite uses.

"So much for getting to enjoy the show from the sidelines. But...at least this little visit should go much faster now that they have responsible, intelligent adults as answer keys and nurses."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Regal and Kratos were deep in discussion on what to do next when they both jumped at the sound behind them. Kratos was yet again, reminded that he was without a handy sword.

However, Presea merely stood and stared past them. Her hair was still various shades of pink matted with dried blood, but the large wound in her head looked less sinister, thanks to meticulous healing spells from both Regal and Kratos. After a few seconds, Regal relaxed slightly. Presea did not seem to remember them being her enemy. If anything, she seemed like a robot that had just been powered on, but not yet given a command.

"I want to go home," she suddenly intoned, barely above a whisper.

Kratos and Regal exchanged a look of surprise. "Where is your home, Presea?" Kratos asked.

"Ozette."

Regal nodded immediately. "Oh! Ozette... of course... Would you like us to take you home?"

The girl nodded imperceptibly.

"Kratos, Ozette should not be far. If the woods behind us are indeed Gaoracchia, then Ozette should only be another day's journey southeast by foot."

"Then, it will not an hour's journey by aircraft. Let us not delay, it would be most welcome to rest up at an inn."

Kratos couldn't help but feel wary of the strange girl as he expanded his Rheaird. Regal didn't seem the least worried, as he smoothly assumed guardianship of her and made room for her on his Rheaird. Kratos suddenly remembered his lack of a sword, took out his bag of infinite depth, and reached for his Flamberge. He sighed as he looked at the tip of the sheath, which hid the broken tip that had helped prove the validity of the adamantite he now possessed. Tip or no tip, the Flamberge lost none of its legendary qualities. He secured it to his side, and felt whole again.

Presea took little time to point out her hometown nestled deep within a small forest of ancient trees as they flew around the area. Once they landed, Presea jumped off the plane and ran away before Regal could react.

"Not to worry," Regal said. "We should find her at her father's house soon enough. Alicia often spoke of Ozette and her father. It was due to her father's illness that she took work at the Lezareno Company. Perhaps it is long overdue in my coming to pay respects to her father..."

The village of Ozette lay hidden lay hidden within a grove of ancient, majestic pines that towered over them. Houses and paths were built around the trees and on the trees. It could be a beautiful, cozy town... but somehow, the air was stiflingly gloomy. The villagers also did not add a welcoming presence.

"Good Martel, what is wrong with this town?!" Regal finally said under his breath, after parting with the third person they talked to in the village.

"Thank you, Regal, my sentiments exactly. A most enchanting village...yet, home of the most offensive inhabitants."

"I must say, the Pope would find many a kindred spirit in this town. The hatred they have toward the half-elves is incredible. "

"And Presea is not immune, either, due to her changed nature and unchanged body. And also the dwarf that lives nearby. Regal, I would like to visit the dwarf after this, I have something to ask of him."

"That shouldn't be a problem."

Kratos and Regal exhausted every obvious house in the village before finally descending a half-hidden path that sloped down beyond the lights of the town. As a precaution, Kratos asked for a lantern.

They barely walked half a minute before Kratos suddenly threw out an arm to stop Regal. "Shh, I hear someone."

Regal watched Kratos in puzzlement, noting that his eyes turned dangerously icy the longer he listened.

"Let's go," Kratos suddenly said once Rodyle's presence disappeared, and sped down the pathway. "It seems she is under the influence of Rodyle, a vile man who works under Yggdrassil. He just told her to bring more sacred wood to Meltokio... how does she drag it all the way to Meltokio from here? Hmm, hopefully, I can relieve her of that burden instead."

"Zelos mentioned that he saw her with sacred wood in Meltokio, how much wood do they possibly need? What a journey for her! Kratos! There are no lights in the house at all! Is she in there?"

"Yes... she is. I don't know what she's doing." Kratos wrinkled his nose. "A pungent smell of death lingers over this place."

Kratos walked gingerly through the open front door with his lantern, afraid to confirm his suspicions about the original inhabitant. Presea seemed busy walking around the dusty, cob-webbed house, moving objects from place to place without much reason.

"Mr. Combatir? Presea?" Regal said hesitantly. She made no reply. Kratos noted an open door off the main room and started towards it.

Regal suddenly covered his nose and mouth in horror as he approached the door. "This smell! It can't be!"

Kratos took one swift look inside the room and immediately walked back into the main area. Regal, however, took his lamp and stood at the door, eyes locked on the dark, decayed body in the bed. "How could this happen, why... Alicia, I am so sorry..."

"The Cruxis Crystal has robbed Presea of all sense of reality. She has no idea what has happened to her father..." Kratos said quietly. "Until we can fashion a keycrest to halt the effects, she may never recover. We must hurry to the dwarf that lives nearby."

"Her father needs a proper burial. Go on."

"If we can save Presea, she may want to be the one to do it. Let's wait until then." Kratos walked over to Presea. "It is late, however, and I doubt the dwarf would welcome our intrusion at this hour. Let's go back to the inn first. Will you come with us, Presea?"

"I... must... do my job."

"Let's not push her," Regal said. "She may fight back."

"Presea," Kratos said, "How long do you plan to be here?"

"I must acquire sacred wood."

"Will you be here tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"We will see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Yes."

Regal frowned at the thought of her spending the night in such a morbid environment. But to forcefully move her could prove detrimental, and for her to stay at the inn may invite too much attention from the nosy townsfolk. He sighed. "Good night, Presea. Take care."

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**I really hope I hear from you guys! I'll be really depressed if you don't drop a word or two!! Not to mention, I just got back some inspiration, help me stoke it! =)**


	39. Chapter 39: Unpleasant Truths

**Hello everyone!! I had a lot of fun with this chapter, especially since I finally caught my muse hiding at the bottom of a box after we moved apartments! By the way, Tabatha doesn't exist in this story. I love her, too, but she really didn't need to be present here. So I had surgery on my foot about a month ago, and man, I kinda know how it feels to be an invalid and not be able to walk—poor Anna, sorry for still dragging my feet on curing you!**

**Lemme check—no I still don't own Tales of Symphonia. sigh.  
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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 39: Unpleasant Truths

Anna waited for the sun to rise as she did every morning in the east hall. Three days have gone by since Kratos' departure. It was hard to believe, that Kratos might finally fulfill the three items Origin had asked for so long ago. Sometimes, she wondered if Origin still remembered what he said... He couldn't be wrong, however... he was the king of Summons! And if he truly decreed that this was all Kratos needed to wield the Eternal Sword, then that should be that. Surely, he would not suddenly appear at the end and apologize that he had given them the wrong paperwork...

"Anna?"

Anna turned around and smiled faintly when she saw who was at the door. "Hi, Mithos. The sun is just about the break, you came just in time."

Mithos walked over and grabbed a chair, scooting it next to Anna's wheelchair. It was a beautifully designed room, where the windows curved outward, and made up the entire wall of the room. Trust Yuan to design such niceties in a military base.

"How are you feeling, Anna? What did Nevil say about the headaches? Here, I brought some coffee."

"It's the usual. Mithos, this may sound selfish, but I really can't wait for Sheena to make the pact with Volt, so we can get to Lake Umacy and see about this unicorn."

Mithos laughed. "I guess it's selfish, but well justified I think. Well, you have nothing to worry about. I felt my connection with Volt break yesterday, which means they succeeded. He was faint, like the rest of them, but I was still able to feel him until then. I wonder though, since I lack mana to call upon the spirits, my other half probably can still expend extra effort and somehow call upon them. I felt Asuka waver a lot these past few days, and my guess was that Ygg was calling him. I concentrated hard to keep Asuka present in my mind, and I think I have succeeded every time. If this is the case, then I posit that if I keep watch and focus enough, I can strengthen my hold on the Spirits I have and keep him from using any of them. Sheena is now the only sure way to deny Ygg the use of those Summon Spirits."

"I just hope Origin didn't overlook some fine print and realize that we _do_ have to have Sheena make pacts with all the other Summons. I just can't help but wonder why Origin would have not told us about that detail when he mentioned the Ring of the Pact."

Mithos sank back in the chair and thought for a second. "From what I understood, I had called upon Origin to fashion a sword that only half-elves—who have obtained pacts from the elemental Spirits—are able to wield. It would not surprise me if the loophole Origin had thrown in for humans did not include the clause that required the pacts of all the Spirits. It is possible. I have to give my other half credit where credit is due. It would have been impossible for someone to obtain the pacts of all the elemental Spirits without throwing the two worlds into unthinkable chaos. Yuan had not thought of the two worlds balancing on borrowed mana when he forged his plan to have Sheena make pacts with the Spirits in order to call Origin."

"The worlds would have broken apart due to the imbalance of mana, right?"

"Yeah...pretty devious. Sad that my genius was used for such nefarious ways. I am rather surprised Origin didn't just say no!"

A loud, desperate knock sounded before the door opened and revealed a tense-looking Botta.

"Anna... Mithos... I am very sorry for the intrusion, but we have a problem..."

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

It didn't take long for Kratos and Regal to find the dwarf named Altessa that was rumored to dwell in the region. It was a cozy enough cave built into a cliffside. The dwarf, however, was nothing like the other dwarf Kratos knew. He was older, and rather impressive in his stance and personality. At the first mention of Presea's name...

"GET OUT!"

Kratos's eyebrows snapped together. "Excuse me?"

"I WANT NOTHING MORE TO DO WITH THAT GIRL!"

"May I ask why?" Kratos said, suddenly deciding he wasn't terribly fond of the fiery dwarf.

"No, you may not. Leave."

Regal stepped forward. "Sir, I do not care what past grievances there have been, but if you can save her, I am willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen. Please."

Altessa looked at Regal for a long second. "And why do _you_ care about this girl?"

"She is the sister of my late fiancee. I could not save her, and I vowed that I will save her sister from a similar fate."

"How did you know to come here?"

Kratos sighed, and raised his left hand for Altessa to see. "I am no stranger to the workings of the Cruxis Crystal. As you can see, I am also a bearer of one."

Altessa looked at the man's hand and indeed, a Cruxis Crystal sat in a extremely well-made key crest made of inhibitor ore. Then, a glint of light suddenly drew Altessa's eyes to the gold flame-shaped sword hilt below Kratos's arm.

"The Flamberge?"

Kratos looked down at his sword and unclasped it from his side.

"Correct." Kratos replied as the dwarf waited expectantly.

Kratos slowly slid his beloved sword out of its sheath. As the blade was exposed, the fiery red metal seemed to glow with a light of its own. The undulating waves of the blade appeared to move like the waves of intense heat. There was no doubting the authenticity of the sword.

"GREAT MORIA, IT _IS_ THE FLAMBERGE! WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?!"

Kratos slightly smug look was banished completely when he remembered yet again, that it had lost its tip. "It had an encounter with adamantite. Apparently, adamantite is stronger after all."

"WHAT?"

"I have the tip though... here..." Kratos quickly found the lost tip in his bag of infiniteness and held it out. "If you could repair my sword, I would be deeply indebted."

"Who are you people? The Flamberge is a treasure of the Dwarven people. The great sword was given away to a great hero thousands of years ago. Why would you have this legendary sword?"

Kratos looked completely unmoved, though inside he was feeling extremely uncomfortable. "I... am..." He looked at Regal uncertainly. Wait, did he ever tell _him_ he was millennia-old? How to phrase this and have it hopefully go over Regal's head? "I am... the one who accepted the sword from King Morijag II after the Battle of Golem Rock."

Altessa's jaw dropped. Humans should know nothing about Dwarven history. Regal, on the other hand, didn't seem to think there was anything wrong at all. Kratos let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

Before Altessa could say another word, Kratos quickly continued, cutting to the chase. "I understand that dwarves were manipulated by the entity known as Cruxis for aiding in Cruxis Crystal projects. I have heard of terrible experiments that could not have been done without the knowledge of the dwarves. Our goal is to eliminate Cruxis and save those who have suffered under their hand. If you could help Presea regain her senses, it would be one step in restoring the world order."

Altessa was still having trouble grasping the possibility that the man before him was thousands of years old, but he could not refute the authenticity of the legendary Flamberge, the fact that the man wore a Cruxis Crystal embedded in inhibitor ore, nor the man's knowledge of Cruxis.

"Do you have inhibitor ore, then?"

Regal's head snapped up. "Yes—I can obtain some as quickly as possible."

"Well..." Altessa resisted an urge to scratch his head at the strange guests in front of him. Inhibitor ore itself was rare and next to impossible to come across... "Alright. If you can bring me some inhibitor ore, I will make the appropriate keycrest for the girl."

Regal turned to Kratos. "I should still have inhibitor ore samples back at Altamira. With the Rheaird, I should be back before long."

Altessa cleared his throat. "While you go fetch the inhibitor ore, I would like you to leave the Flamberge with me..."

"Kratos, it will be faster if I go alone. I will also check on Presea on the way up."

Kratos nodded, slightly relieved that he could stay with his sword. Altessa, on the other hand, was processing the new fact that the man's name was _Kratos_, same as the hero he spoke of. It was a very good thing the man was staying. He needed to pick his brains thoroughly and get some sorely-needed answers.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Botta took out stack of papers and laid them on the table for Mithos and Anna to see.

"We just received this report about a deadly incident that occurred at the Hakonesia Mountain Pass. Approximately thirteen people were killed on the southern side and seven on the northern side. Among them were four guards, travelers, and the owner of the shop that sells the 100 million gald road passes."

"100 million gald road passes?" Mithos asked. "I'm surprised he didn't get killed earlier, what a crook! But that everyone else around died, too... There were no witnesses, were there?"

"No, nearby residents heard strange chiming sounds and then an explosion. When they went to inspect the area, they noticed the charred bodies on either side of the pass, and the destroyed shop."

"Did they inspect the shop?"

"Yes, apparently Koton—the man who ran the shop—is an avid collector of rare items, and he kept a book detailing all he had. One of the men went through the list and noticed that only one item was missing. It was a staff called 'Heart of Chaos'".

"'Heart of Chaos?' It sounds like a dark weapon. I wonder if it's related to the Sybak library incident, where many people were also killed."

Botta's eyes widened. "We will look into that immediately."

"I'm not sure about the chiming sound, however. That sounds like magic... and staffs can only channel what a person already knows." Mithos sifted through the papers and found a paragraph detailing the surrounding damage. "'Isolated, scattered damage...charred bodies...store has a large hole in the roof.' Not terribly helpful details, I'll have to go see it in person."

"Volt should now have extended his powers onto the Sylvarant grid, right? We should be able to fly there with the Rheairds and check it out," Anna said.

A beep sounded and Botta reached for the pager at his side. "Perfect. Sir Yuan and the group have just landed."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Wow, dude, that's awesome. I'll see you guys later, I'm going to bed."

Yuan rolled his eyes as he watched Zelos trudge down the hall immediately after Botta had just briefed them on the latest mystery. Sheena looked split between chasing after him and staying to hear more about the situation.

"Go on, Sheena, I'll tell you about it later," Lloyd said quietly in Sheena's ear. She shot him a grateful smile and waved to everyone as she took off.

"Did the journey go well?" Anna asked, watching Sheena run after Zelos. There was a tension in the air that certainly wasn't there before. What happened at Volt's temple?

"He's just being Zelos," Yuan said shortly. "Anyway, I think it's pretty obvious our little friend who raided the Sybak library is up to no good again. My only question is how the hell he knew how to jump planets."

Raine frowned as she caught Anna's questioning look. "We can make no concrete conclusions being so removed from the crime scene. I suggest that everyone go freshen up and take a nap first before going over there. I understand this cannot be delayed, but rest is also of utmost importance otherwise we cannot perform at an optimum level."

"Then I'm going to head to the library, let me know when you guys are ready," Yuan said, and quickly walked off.

"Raine, what is going on?? Why is everyone is such a bad mood?" Anna asked. "No, you and Genis should go rest, I'll badger Lloyd."

"Thanks, Anna. I'll definitely come tell you more in a bit. Come on, Genis."

"Have fun, Lloyd!" Genis said cheerfully.

Lloyd suddenly found himself the center of attention between Mithos and Anna. "Man... mom, I wanna rest, too..."

"I've got unbaked chocolate chip cookies ready to go in the oven."

"REALLY???"

"Let's go," Anna said, grinning as she wheeled the chair toward the kitchen.

"So..." Mithos started.

"Yeah, man it sucked. Raine and Yuan found out about us going to get Volt. But it turned out to be a good thing in the end," Lloyd said, shrugging. "But Raine turned it into some kind of practical test by making us solve all the stupid puzzles in the place. So it took forevvvvvver! Anyway, the trouble really started when we finally faced Volt. When he appeared, he was speaking gibberish. Sheena was all worked up, Raine was yelling to calm her down, but Volt looked like he was charging up to fight already. Then Volt shot a bolt at Sheena and Zelos jumped in the way to take the hit. But when Yuan ran over to help Zelos, all hell really broke loose. Once Volt saw Yuan, he just electrocuted everyone!"

"Ah, yeah, Volt has a short fuse," Mithos said. "He attacked us right away, too, when we went to go find him. I wonder why he hated Yuan so much?"

"Well, Yuan threw up a barrier a little late, but it helped shield most of the blast. Raine had to quickly heal everyone as fast as she could. We were just all so freaked out and finally Raine had to really yell at us to get us to listen to her. So, turned out, Raine knew what the thing was saying and told everyone to stand their ground and fight so we can gain the pact by force. Apparently his pact with you, Mithos, was broken, and he really didn't care to make any more pacts with humans."

"Really?" Mithos said, surprised. "I blame it on my evil half! But I wonder what exactly made him so angry? Anyway, what happened when you guys won—assuming so"

"I dunno... but yeah, we did beat Volt in the end, and Raine told Sheena to state her vow. So Sheena told him the vow—"

"What's her vow?"

"To—lets see—relieve people suffering from hate and discrimination, and to return the worlds to its rightful state. Anyway, right after Sheena made the pact, Undine appeared and said the link between the two worlds was broken. Yuan looked upset and asked what she meant, but she just said the worlds will separate if all the Spirits were to awakened in both worlds. Apparently it seems awakening all the Spirits is a very bad idea. When we left finally, Yuan was in a bad mood, and Zelos was, too. Nothing we said or did could lighten them up."

Mithos smiled mirthlessly and shook his head. "Yuan didn't know that in this new world, you can't awaken both worlds' Summon Spirits without risking the balance being upset and destroying both worlds. Which would mean that it would be impossible to call Origin and wield the Eternal Sword. Which would mean that his effort these past many years was for naught. I was just thinking of it as a theory, but I guess it's proven true now."

"Oh dear, poor Yuan..." Anna said grimly. "This basically does cement the case for the Ring of the Pact, however."

"Oh yeah!" Lloyd cried. "Dad should be getting the sacred wood now, right?? Then he'll be done!"

"That is true. I still wonder why Zelos was in a bad mood, though..." Anna said as she reached for the pan of cookies on the kitchen counter she had pre-made and put it in the oven.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Sir Botta, sir..." a Renegade soldier said hesitantly as he stood at Botta's office door.

"Yes, Wej?" Botta automatically answered as he put aside some paperwork he was working on.

"Another incident, sir... in Altamira. Thirty-two people reported dead..."

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**Alright, folks! Tell me what you think! I have half a mind to go bake some chocolate chip cookies right now for the reviewers... =P**

**REVIEW! THANKS EVERYONE!**


	40. Chapter 40: Breaking Limits

**Hello everyone! I made some revisions in Ch. 39 (on Oct 15/16) on Lloyd's account of their fight with Volt. It's a little more fleshed out and this chapter will make a little more sense because of it. To save you guys from having to go back to read it, here it is:**

"_Yeah, man it sucked. Raine and Yuan found out about us going to get Volt. But it turned out to be a good thing in the end," Lloyd said, shrugging. "But Raine turned it into some kind of practical test by making us solve all the stupid puzzles in the place. So it took forevvvvvver! Anyway, the trouble really started when we finally faced Volt. When he appeared, he was speaking gibberish. Sheena was all worked up, Raine was yelling to calm her down, but Volt looked like he was charging up to fight already. Then Volt shot a bolt at Sheena and Zelos jumped in the way to take the hit. But when Yuan ran over to help Zelos, all hell really broke loose. Once Volt saw Yuan, he just electrocuted everyone!"_

"_Ah, yeah, Volt has a short fuse..." Mithos said. "He attacked us right away, too, when we went to go find him. I wonder why he hated Yuan so much?"_

"_Well, Yuan threw up a barrier a little late, but it helped shield most of the blast. Raine had to quickly heal everyone as fast as she could. We were just all so freaked out and finally Raine had to really yell at us to get us to listen to her. So, turned out, Raine knew what the thing was saying and told everyone to stand their ground and fight so we can gain the pact by force. Apparently his pact with you, Mithos, was broken, and he really didn't care to make any more pacts with humans."_

"_Really?" Mithos said, surprised. "I blame it on my evil half! But I wonder what exactly made him so angry? Anyway, what happened when you guys won—assuming so"_

"_I dunno... but yeah, we did beat Volt in the end, and Raine told Sheena to state her vow. So Sheena told him the vow—"_

"_What's her vow?"_

"_To—lets see—relieve people suffering from hate and discrimination, and to return the worlds to its rightful state. Anyway, right after Sheena made the pact, Undine appeared and said the link between the two worlds was broken. Yuan looked upset and asked what she meant, but she just said the worlds will separate if all the Spirits were to awakened in both worlds. Apparently it seems awakening all the Spirits is a very bad idea. When we left finally, Yuan was in a bad mood, and Zelos was, too. Nothing we said or did could lighten them up."_

**Now on to Chapter 40! I still don't own Symphonia, sorry!**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 40: Breaking Limits

Zelos wrapped a towel around his freshly washed hair, threw on a bathrobe and walked over to a cabinet at the far corner of his room. He refilled his glass with a decanter of the King's best port and sat down in an armchair, sipping slowly.

There was no way any of them would have survived Volt had Raine or Yuan not come. That fact kept repeating itself over and over again in his mind, and frankly, he was getting kind of tired of it. How did he know that Volt was a freakin' anomaly that refused to speak in anything intelligible? or that he was bloodthirsty and ready to kill them without reason? Summon Spirits should be fair, right? Apparently not, since Volt shot that deadly bolt at Sheena when her back was turned! And that bolt... the only reason he survived it was the special elemental armor he happened to put on that morning! And even then... he nearly died. Sheena would have died... It would have been instant, she would have been gone—just like that...

A knock sounded, and the door opened. Sheena poked her head in the room. "Hey Zelos, feel any better now?"

"Nothing like a hot shower and bathrobe," Zelos said with a mirthless smirk. "You look nice and clean yourself. Watcha got there?"

Sheena left the door slightly ajar, walked over and handed him a long wooden box decorated in the intricate Mizuho style. Then she went and sat on the edge of the bed across from Zelos.

"Good Martel... you don't have to give me this, Sheena..."

"I've been saving the Junmai-shu sake for you—no returns! It's what you've always wanted right? I'd been meaning to give it to you. Freshest batch of the year."

"Well, then, let's bust out the sake set right now!" Zelos cried happily as he put his glass of port off to the side and reached in the cabinet. "So what's up, what'd I do to deserve this?"

Sheena could feel her cheeks heat up, and she really wanted to slap herself. "Well, you'd just been in such a terrible mood after Volt. So I wanted to cheer you up."

Zelos's smile faded a little. "I really don't deserve this," he said bitterly.

Sheena stared at him in surprise. "What? What are you saying! That totally doesn't even sound like you!"

"Look, I nearly got you—everyone—killed by Volt! If Raine didn't conveniently show up and translate Volt's grumblings—or Yuan throwin' up the magic barrier when Volt made it rain lightning—we woulda been roasted on the floor dead!"

"Oh you've nearly gotten all of us killed many times, we get used to it. How is this any different?" Sheena said as she took out small cups for both of them for Zelos to fill.

"I dunno. I guess this was a lot freakier somehow," Zelos said flatly. _That bolt would have killed you, Sheena..._ "Oh, the sake's chilled, nice."

"Freakier meaning Yuan went over and above his record of the time he usually takes to chew you out... That's nothing totally new. He did look like he was in a bad mood himself though, and it wasn't because of you."

"I'd never seen the old man so mad before, have you? Good Martel, he was like foamin' at the mouth at me."

"He seemed fine when we were going through Volt's temple. I think Volt and Undine somehow really rubbed him the wrong way. So he just took it out on you 'cause naturally you're the one who gets us all to go on these adventures."

"No, but really, we really would have died for sure if we'd made it to the end without their 'gracious guidance.'

"Oh c'mon, Zelos, we nearly died during the whole Ranch business with Lloyd!"

"Well, we weren't gonna go against Summon Spirits! My intensions were good! We were gonna visit the big city and have fun! Who knew we'd meet up with freakin' Sylvarant cavemen... Volt, though, I dunno... and Genis was with us, too. He's just a little kid. Ugh, I dunno, it just really hit me that there was no way we could have survived if it'd just been us. At least with the ranch, we made it through pretty good."

"Yeah? If Lloyd didn't get all possessed and destroy the ranch with his demonic powers, we probably wouldn't have escaped."

"Nah, I totally woulda found a way. A place like that, c'mon. Built by cavemen! Anyway, cheers to our excellent 'parental guardians'".

Sheena rolled her eyes. "Cheers to helping me successfully make a new pact."

"That, too, yeah." Zelos put down his cup and let out a very satisfied sigh. "Man, this's _hella_ good! That was the smoothest sake I've ever tasted. Chief drinks this stuff on a regular basis?"

"Nah, just for special ceremonies. It takes forever to make, we can't make that much."

Sheena reached for the bottle and poured another round. She was actually feeling really awkward for some reason, and couldn't quite figure it out. Maybe it was because this was the most serious she'd ever seen Zelos... Half of her was wishing for the obnoxious version so she could kick him like old times, but—

"Well, I'm sorry, Sheena."

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry for dragging you guys over there and nearly getting all of us killed."

Sheena narrowed her eyes questioningly as Zelos drained the second cup. "I already said, quit being so weird! We're all perfectly fine, now! No one blames you for anything—except maybe Yuan, and he's just beating you up because of his own damn problems! Look, now we can fly the Rheairds all over Sylvarant now! We can go find Colette, beat up Ygg, help Anna get her legs back! Save the world! We did what we went there to do!"

"I s'pose you're right."

"Good, quit beating yourself up. We still have a lot of stuff ahead of us," Sheena said severely. Zelos was giving her a strange look, and she suddenly was thinking maybe she should leave... but something kept her rooted.

"Yeah... hey, thanks, Sheena. You know, you're really the only one that gets me, you know?"

"Um..." Sheena suddenly realized, belatedly, that she was sitting on Zelos's bed. "You got more friends that care about you than you think, Zelos. Lloyd was worried about you, too."

"Nah, not the same, no way. He's a good bud, I don't deny that. But you're special to me."

Sheena's cheeks were burning from embarrassment. She wished she had read more of those romance books that were so popular among the Meltokio girls so that she'd know what she was supposed to say. She'd been dreaming of this moment for a while, but she certainly didn't imagine herself so lost and awkward.

"Ah... really?" She finally managed. "H-how about your hunnies?"

"They're cool. None of them are half as well-endowed as you though, for su—"

Suddenly, Sheena gasped when she realized her fist was connected to Zelos's cheek. "Oh crap, Zelos! I'm sorry! It was totally an automatic—I mean! Are you okay?? Hey, Ze—"

Next thing she knew, Zelos had her wrapped up in a deep kiss...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Regal should not be taking this long.

Kratos had already exhausted nearly every topic he cared to converse about with the dwarf, and now he was just pacing around waiting for Altessa to finish tempering the Flamberge.

It surprised him when he learned that Altessa's aversion to Presea was actually brought on by Rodyle. Kratos' opinion of the dwarf rose after he said that he had personally run away from Cruxis and its inhuman practices. But, unfortunately, the dwarf was found by Rodyle and was coerced into helping the Desian make a Cruxis Crystal. It only mildly surprised him to learn that Rodyle was planning to betray Cruxis and take over himself. Whatever the case, it was a good reminder to clear Rodyle's ranch out soon.

_What about Pronyma or Forcystus?_ Kratos stopped pacing and sat down at a chair near the window. He realized that he had shoved the remaining Desians to the back of his mind ever since Yggdrassil's disappearance. Kratos mentally slapped himself hard. Yggdrassil was last purported to be seen in Iselia! Then again, there had been no reports of any disturbance to any of the Ranches. The Cardinals usually never interacted much with Yggdrassil personally. Forcystus rarely exited his ranch or had much to do with Cruxis. In fact, Yggdrassil never trusted him or liked him for some reason. Magnius is dead. Pronyma, on the other hand...

But then why would Yggdrassil even bother to go to them? Yggdrassil held them all in deep contempt—including and especially Pronyma, who he regarded as only extremely useful for his clandestine dealings. He was not the type to go seeking refuge in the first place. Indeed, it actually made sense that Yggdrassil was last seen on his own and doing what he deemed was necessary. Regardless, endless distractions have kept them from clearing the abominable Ranches, and Kratos vowed that once they returned from this trip, he would rid those evils before fusing the worlds back together...

_But, where is Regal? _ For a man that follows the strictest form of honor and discipline, this delay can only mean that something of greater importance than Presea had happened, or that he was in grave danger. Kratos got up from his chair and walked to Altessa's workplace.

"Altessa!" Kratos cried over the banging. "Forgive me for asking, but how much longer until the Flamberge is fixed? I am worried about my friend, he should be back by now!"

"I understand, but give me another hour and it will be done!"

"Do you have a spare sword?"

"No! Sorry!"

And Kratos left, berating himself for not purchasing a cheap sword in Ozette.

Kratos didn't have to fret too long, however, before he heard the sound of a Rheaird outside. Without wasting another second, he dashed out the door and saw that Regal was covered in blood. "Regal! What—"

"Kratos!! Forgive me for the long delay, but a terrible tragedy has befallen Altamira. I found two samples of inhibitor ore—here..." Regal quickly fished the ore out of a bag. "I can't stay long, I must return to help—"

"No, common sense dictates that you need to stay and heal."

"It really isn't that bad..." But Kratos quickly dragged Regal inside and brought out some gels for Regal to chew on.

"Tell me what happened."

"After getting the ore, I was in my house talking with George—my butler—when a terrible scream rent the air. It was on the other side of the city and by the time we got there, numerous casualties already lined the roads. To make matters worse, it took place in the amusement park sector of Altamira, meaning a large number of the casualties were children. I had not walked far when a Demon Fang assaulted me from behind and caught me by surprise. I saw only a shadow of the man before another devastating shock wave hit me. As quickly as it had begun, it was over, and the man was gone. After a fruitless search for him, I helped collect evidence and interrogated the witnesses—the reason it took so long. It seems some witnesses had reported seeing a suspicious man in dark clothes wander around the park looking for something. Some of the wounded remembered that the man wielded a terrifying monster to strike everyone down. I did not see such a weapon since all attacks I received were long-range."

"Was there anything peculiar about anyone's injuries?"

"Many appeared to have suffered severe burns, deep lacerations, and heavy bruises. Sounds eerily like the Sybak library incident, perhaps?"

"Heavy bruises, too? How many weapons did this man employ??" Kratos said, shaking his head. "I do not doubt that this case is related to the library massacre. Mithos posited that the item the man found at Sybak is one of the ancient dark weapons called the Devil's Arms. Legends stated that nine Arms existed, and once all were found, the way to the Underworld will open."

"Underworld?" Regal echoed incredulously. And he thought Kratos was one of the sanest men in the world?

"I know it seems far-fetched, but I'm unwilling to discount anything that vicious right now. I just mean to suggest that perhaps one of the Devil's Arms may have been hidden in Altamira. Since these are products of the netherworld, it seems such impossibly swift massacres could be made possible. Do you have any knowledge of any dark chests that you may have come across and couldn't open?"

Regal thought for a good minute. "No. Not that I have any knowledge of. I will definitely ask around about anything like that, however."

"What's this about Altamira, I'm hearing?" A loud voice called from an adjacent room. Soon, Altessa appeared carrying the Flamberge, which looked as flawless as on the day it was first forged. "Here you go, Kratos, your sword, good as new. It's been a pleasure to work on the Dwarves' greatest treasure," he said, handing the sword back to its grateful owner. "Now where is the inhibitor ore? It sounds like you guys are in something of a hurry, eh? It should only take me a few hours to finish the keycrest for the girl."

"Would Presea even care to wait for us?" Kratos asked dubiously.

"Well, when I went to check on her, I asked her to wait for us, and she nodded. But I hate how she refuses to be removed from that terrible house," Regal replied, sighing. "I must return to Altamira now, however, and wrap up any problems while Altessa forges the keycrest. I promise to be back before long."

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"Mom..."

Anna looked down at her son, who was staring rather blankly at a half eaten cookie he was holding. Ever since Mithos had left the two of them alone in the kitchen, Lloyd's rather cheery disposition had taken a marked dive. "Yes?"

"There's been no word on Colette, huh?"

Anna frowned. "No, Lloyd. But Botta has sent scouts to all the seals once he had word that the Rheairds were not limited by Volt. That was quite a few hours ago... so we should hear back soon."

"Colette's in serious trouble, Mom, I can just feel it... We've been sitting around waiting long enough!"

"Sometimes rushing into things will only make it worse. It is not that much longer of a wait to make sure we have enough information and people to help make the search go faster."

Lloyd didn't say anything in reply as he took the last cookie on the plate.

"Hey, Mom? Now that the Rheairds can go all over Sylvarant, we should check out that lake that the unicorn is supposed to be in! We're not doing anything right now but waiting anyway! Let's go!"

"Tempting, Lloyd, but you forget that it takes a special group of people to make it happen. Do you remember who all needs to go?"

Lloyd thought for a minute. "Raine... Sheena... Colette...? Does Colette have to be here, though...? Isn't a 'maiden' just a fancy word for a girl?"

Anna sighed. "A 'maiden' is an unmarried girl—a girl who has not had any boyfriends, either. Don't go bothering them about it."

"Really? Why?"

"I don't think Raine or Sheena would be very happy to be woken up at this point to be asked such a question—you forget, sleep is rather important for those who need it."

"They've got a few hours in already! I'm gonna go see if they're up!"

"Don't—"

"I'm not gonna ask them anything, don't worry..."

"I think your dad would really like to be here as well though, Lloyd. Did you forget about him?"

Lloyd was nearly out the door when he stopped and turned around with a look of horror on his face. "Don't tell Dad!" Just as quickly though, a grin spread over his face. "Nah, Dad'll give me props for getting you healed ASAP! He won't be angry!"

And he was gone.

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**Review!!**


	41. Chapter 41: Deliverance

**First off, THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the wonderful support! I apologize for the not-a-chapter, I really do! I really appreciate your feedback, it makes me really feel like I'm writing for you personally, and to a live audience! I was super-stoked writing this chapter. **

**NOW, here's the real thing! (no, I don't own Tales of Symphonia. it's a bummer.)  
**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 41: Deliverance

The haze was clearing...

The shadows, the blurs, the light... her house?

..._hey...Presea...? _sis...! Alicia? Is that you? such indistinct voices... speak louder..

_Presea...? Presea..._ Papa! Papa?

"Presea?"

Presea blinked twice.

"Presea? Can you understand me?"

Presea blinked again. "W-who are you?"

Regal sighed happily. "My name is Regal Bryant. And this is Kratos Aurion. How do you feel...?"

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Lloyd was in relatively high spirits as he made his way down to Sheena and the Sages' rooms. If they could just hurry and be on their way to Lake Umacy, it would give him something to do and less time to worry about Colette.

Sheena's room came first, and Lloyd rapped a few times on the closed door. No answer. He knocked harder. Still no answer. Sheena couldn't still be talking with Zelos... they were all crying about how sleepy they were. He squashed his ear against Sheena's door and listened. Nothing. Huh. Lloyd shrugged his shoulders and moved on to Raine's door. This time he just squashed his ear against the door first. Nothing. He knocked on the door. No answer. He was sorely tempted to just open the door, but remembered his mom telling him never to open any girl's door without permission unless he wanted to die a miserable death. And the Professor would no doubt make his death extra painful.

Lloyd exhaled sharply. He could hear Genis snoring loud and clear in the room next to Raine's. No need to check there. Why is it so hard to find people when he needed them? His right hand quivered involuntarily. He looked down at the exsphere embedded in his hand, and touched the gem lightly. Come to think of it, he hadn't heard from the residents in there for a while. It really has been a long time since he made the promise to Marble to reunite her with the rest of her soul... and to bring her to her daughter and granddaughter. Now that he should be able to fly to Palmacosta... yeah, it should be pretty simple.

He looked back at Sheena's and Raine's rooms. But why weren't they there...?

Then he remember Genis saying how he always went to go find Yuan when he couldn't find Raine. He made his way down another hallway when he stopped at the sound of a loud snore. Wow, he'd never heard Zelos snore so freakin' loud before! He was about to keep walking when he heard a different, lighter breathing from the same area. That's odd... the only room in this hallway is Zelos'...

The back of his hand itched, making him look down at the exsphere confusedly. Ignoring it, he looked up again and listened for the errant sound, but instead got an extra loud earful from Zelos. Lloyd rubbed his ears, shrugged, and ran off toward Yuan's study, which was... empty. Lloyd stared hard at the dark, empty room. _What is going on? Where is everyone?? Did everyone know he was coming or something and ran away??_

Lloyd flipped on the lights and looked at the books that were strewn around the desktop. _Underworld... apocalypse... living armor... chaos... heart of chaos..._ Seems Yuan was taking the underworld theory pretty seriously...

A sharp pain brought his attention back to his hand. _Why the hell don't you just speak, if it's so important!_ Lloyd thought angrily. No answer. It seems everyone is playing hard to get, today.

He sighed. Well, it shouldn't take long to do such a small favor for Marble, especially with the Rheaird...

Lloyd was about to open the door to go outside when stopped again. He should tell his mom... But ugh, he's old enough, he doesn't need to be telling his mom everything he's doing.

Then again, she might be waiting for him to come back from finding everyone.

He quickly ran back to the kitchen and poked his head in. His mom had left already. _This is getting freakin' stupid_, Lloyd thought, frustrated. He scrounged for a pen and the nearest piece of paper and scrawled:_ "Gone to Palmacosta to do something real quick, be back real soon. Lloyd."_

Lloyd could feel the blood warming his cheeks in excitement as he made his way to the nearest exit and opened the door. The sun shone high in the sky as he took to the skies on his newest fiery red Rheaird. He quickly floored the pedal and swung east, taking a deep breath of the scorching Triet heat. The coastal town of Izoold soon passed beneath him and he found himself over open water. Lloyd leaned his Rheaird close to the blue-green depths and felt the spray of the cool, salty ocean.

There was something invigorating about going as fast as his Rheaird allowed... but most of all, flying solo and doing all the spinning and weaving he wanted. Friends were cool to fly and chat with, but somehow... _this_ was just—what was the word—liberating! It was almost like... he had...wings.

Lloyd laughed as he chanted the spell of Incognito, then extended his wings—large, translucent avian wings—and pushed a button to minimize the Rheaird.

"Hello! It's been a long time!!" Lloyd cried as he looked at his shimmery wings, and with a strong flap, he boosted forward. He definitely couldn't go as fast as the Rheaird going full speed, but that didn't matter. It just meant he had more time to enjoy himself before he hit the next continent.

Speaking of which... just what was he going to do when he reached Palmacosta? Not a second after he thought that, he felt another involuntary itch where his exsphere was embedded. _Gotta find her body and the rest of her soul first_, Lloyd suddenly concluded.

Once Lloyd reached the Eastern Continent, it didn't take long to find the pit in the ground he remembered gouging with Eruption so long ago. It seemed eons ago that they had crash landed in this same area. Memories of when Magnius had brought forth the giant...monster that was Marble sprang to mind. Him, Zelos, and Sheena against it—not knowing it used to be human—and the endless Desians.

A gentle breeze ruffled Lloyd's hair as he landed and put away his wings. It seemed someone had given Marble a decent burial. That was nice. Lloyd took a step forward and immediately strands of light sprang forth from the ground and into his exsphere. "W-wait... shouldn't you be going the other way...?" Lloyd said, confusedly. Just as quickly, the light was gone, and his exsphere felt warmer... and somehow, he felt more energized. _She wants to continue aiding in my quest. _

Lloyd stopped. Oh... the exsphere was directly influencing his thoughts... "Is this a good thing...? Somehow, I DON'T THINK SO!" Lloyd cried out loud. No answer. Fine... but then, it did make decision-making much easier. Now, next step, time to find Marble's descendants. He took out his Rheaird and brought it to life. Excellent! So Volt wasn't kidding. The city stood further southeast, an outline of ship masts and buildings. It was a general rule not to take a Rheaird straight to the gate, however, so Lloyd searched for somewhere further out to land.

There was a decent bit of woods due north. But oddly enough, a large caravan was parked right in the middle of it. Intrigued, he quickly landed nearby, minimized the Rheaird, and made his way over.

The caravan itself seemed like a small house on large wheels. Lloyd liked the look of it. It had very homey, cozy feeling, and its owners looked just as friendly and down-to-earth. A man, a woman, and a girl sat around a small fire, engrossed in whatever the man was saying. He looked up, however, as Lloyd approached.

"Well, hello, young traveler. Are you lost? Can we help you?" The man asked.

"Erm... no, I just saw your caravan, and decided to come take a look..." Lloyd said, scratching the back of his neck.

"You are not, by any chance, heading north are you?" The woman asked, looking fearful for some reason.

"Uh, no, I was going to Palmacosta, actually..."

"Really? Did you travel from the Peaks?"

"Uh... no..." Lloyd was really starting to think coming here was a bad idea. "I, uh... was just traveling... around... you know...."

The man sensed the confused boy's uneasiness and smiled sympathetically. No doubt, this was a Palmacosta boy who ran off to find some adventure and wound up lost. "My name is Nova. I travel with my family to study and document the unique wildlife of Sylvarant. We have just come down from up north, through Hakonesia Pass. Something terrible has happened there, and I advise you not to venture any further north."

Lloyd stopped scratching his head and looked at the man with interest. "What happened, did you see?"

"We had crossed the pass not a day after when showers of light rained upon the peak about a more than a day ago. The travelers we came across afterwards spoke of an angel of death finally come to exact justice on the greedy shopkeeper there... I'm not terribly sure how much truth can be gleaned from such reports. Whatever the case, the showers of light were real."

"The screams, too, daddy..." the little girl added in a small voice.

"Yes, May... I'm sure Palmacosta has been alerted of this event and you might should hurry back before the town issues any safety precautions."

Back? Oh, maybe the guy thought he was actually from Palmacosta. "Before I go... have you seen a long-haired blonde girl in white—about yea high—on your travels?"

"Yeah!" the little girl named May cried. "We saw _two_ pretty blonde girls on our way here!"

"Really?" Lloyd's eyes widened. Two... blonde... wait, Ygg was blonde as well...

The woman—which Lloyd supposed was the mother—immediately spoke up. "Yes, there were two blonde girls in white traveling together. They were going the opposite way. This was after we had descended the pass already. Remember how I commented that they looked out of place, Nova? Oh, dear... they weren't caught in that terrible explosion, possibly...?"

Nova shook his head. "May Martel keep them safe. They may not have been headed toward the Peaks, we have no way of knowing."

"You said they were on this side of the mountain when you saw them? They were going north? On foot? So, was one of the girls wearing a white outfit with blue trimmings? She has blue stockings as well. Blue eyes? Please, it's very important..."

The family thought hard on what was a rather brief glimpse of the passerby's.

"Yes," the mother finally spoke up. "I remember that one of the girls looked at me with sky blue eyes. She looked... sad. I did not get a good look at the other girl, however. I assumed they were sisters. The other girl didn't seem quite as nice, though—had a rather hard look about her... but, it is not my place to put such judgements on people who I saw only fleetingly."

"Someone you know, my friend?" Nova asked worriedly. Not good, this boy will most likely go after this girl he is so interested in and get himself killed. "I strongly suggest you return to Palmacosta... there are monsters ahead, and traveling alone is not advisable. Perhaps you can seek Governor-General Dorr out for help?"

Lloyd was about to tell him to mind his own business, when he caught himself and forced a smile on his face. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I should go to town first. Thanks so much for the information. Er, which way is town?"

Nova exhaled in relief. "Head through those trees and follow the path out and down the hill. It won't be far."

Lloyd quickly made his way out of the woods and took out his Rheaird. _Colette, just a little longer... I promise!_

It was then, that Nova documented a strange, giant red bird soaring north in the sky.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

High above in the rooftop garden of the Lezareno Company, Regal and Presea stood before a large headstone, the center of which was embedded with a small orange exsphere. Regal had taken the opportunity to visit Alicia's grave when he went back to get the inhibitor ore. Alicia had appeared, and in the end, asked to see her sister again, freed of the Crystal's hold. When Presea had come to after they placed the keycrest on her, her muted reaction to the state of her family had alarmed Regal at first. Kratos, however, was thankfully there to explain to him that her emotions will slowly return to normal.

Kratos stood respectfully off to the side, watching as Regal lay down fresh flowers. Too similar. Too painful. Only the sliver of chance had saved Anna from Alicia's fate. Could he have ever forgiven himself if Anna had died? It seemed impossible. Slowly, the ghostly form of a girl materialized in front of the exsphere, snapping Kratos' attention back to the present. Her hair was the same shocking pink color as Presea's. Though she was Presea's younger sister, she appeared many years older. _That's right_, Kratos mused, _the Crystal had stopped her growth at the age of twelve._

"_...Presea...!"_

Presea's mouth was slightly open as the ghostly form of her sister materialized in front of the grave. A sudden pressure built up behind her eyes and a lump formed in her throat as she looked up into Alicia's eyes. Presea blinked a few times. There were no tears... just an overwhelming sense of sadness. The emotion seemed so alien and strange. But... Alicia... she looks so much older. This can't be Alicia... and... Alicia shouldn't be dead. This must be the real dream. Has to be... a dream. She shook her head as if to wake herself up. But the ghostly form of her younger sister still stood before her.

"Papa rests in peace now, Alicia. Regal helped me bury him under the tree he loved so much," Presea said at last, swallowing painfully.

The ghost of Alicia smiled faintly. _ "Presea, don't be sad."_

"Sad? Alicia... This... this just isn't right."

"_Don't be sad for me, Presea. I don't regret anything I have done in my life. If this path in life is the only one that let me meet Master Bryant, I would live it over again." _Alicia extended her hand as if to grab Presea's, but dropped it. _"You were always the strongest, the bravest, the smartest. I'm so happy that I could see you broken free of the exsphere before I go."_

Presea's head snapped up. "Go? Why?"

"_My consciousness... the exsphere is about to consume it whole. Soon, I will be trapped within the exsphere, unable to die, unable to pass on. It would be a terrible existence."_

Presea looked down at the exsphere in horror.

"_Sister, don't be upset. After I go, I can keep Papa company..."_

"And? And what about me??" Presea said in an anguished voice. "I'm alone!"

"_Presea, you will never be alone. We will always be with you, in spirit, in your heart. Please... sister, I have something to... ask of you."_

"What?" Presea whispered.

"_Please... help Master Bryant... help him and Mr. Aurion. So many others are suffering like we were... and..."_ The ghost of Alicia started flickering somewhat.

"Alicia? No! No, don't go!" Presea suddenly cried as Alicia appeared fainter and fainter.

"_... be happy... Presea... don't be sad... destroy... now... Regal... I will always... love..."_

"Alicia..." Regal could not bring himself to move. _...don't ask me to do this, again. I can't, I can't... _

Kratos sighed as he watched the grim scene before him. Regal had suffered enough. In some ways, he almost felt guilty that he didn't suffer the same fate as Regal. And now... Regal was basically being asked to do the same thing again. He quickly looked at Presea, who herself was stunned and immobilized, and not about to carry out the mission. Barely a second passed before Kratos made his decision. Regal watched gratefully as he unsheathed the Flamberge and walked toward the headstone. In one swipe, Kratos shattered the exsphere, breaking it into a million shards of light.

"Thank you, Kratos," Regal said tightly._  
_

Presea collapsed to her knees as she grasped helplessly at the fading sparks.

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**Please review or PM! Quathis just brought to my attention that anyone who had "reviewed" for the not-a-chapter, can't review again. **

**But hey, every bit of encouragement makes the next chapter come out that much faster and better! Hint to those who hadn't hit the review button! I'd love to hear from you!  
**

**Again, though, thanks so much for ALL of you. There is just no way this story could have gotten this far otherwise!**


	42. Chapter 42: The Adventures of Lloyd

**Helllooooo!! This chapter's a wee bit different from the changing viewpoints of my last ones. ;) I hope I did it justice, I rather pored over this one quite a bit! O_O I finished reading Cormack McCarthy's _The Road_, and my goodness, if you haven't read it, read it! The writing is stream-of-consciousness (like the infamous school classic, _The Sound and the Fury, _which I wasn't crazy about), and the story is set in a bleak post-apocalyptic world. I know that sounds awfully not-interesting, but the writing is out of control. When I was writing this chapter I kept thinking how it would sound if I wrote it McCarthy style. It'd be pretty weird. I think I'll try it out on some other one-shot exercise. ;)**

**Enjoy the chapter, ya'll!  
**

**Tales of Symphonia I do not own.  
**

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The Origin of Hope

Chapter 42: Adventures of the Great Lloyd Aurion

Lloyd knew nothing of the lands beyond the boundaries of the western continent. It wasn't until he was flying over a stretch of water for at least many, many minutes that he belatedly realized digging out a map from Yuan's library would have been an excellent idea. He had been heading north, the way the handy compass on his Rheaird dashboard pointed. The Tower of Salvation loomed directly in front of him, disappearing into the sky. While it seemed like a possible place that Ygg might bring Colette to, he would have liked to know where else they might be headed. Even if they were bound for the tower, it looked pretty far away. Waiting at the Tower for days didn't appeal to him at all, especially since Ygg appeared to be strangely land-bound and walking his way over. Further east of the Tower was a tall mountain which Lloyd assumed to be Hakonesia, and he decided that following them was a much more appealing course of action.

Hakonesia Peak was the place Botta had briefed them earlier about... the place where the latest massacre took place. After hearing that Ygg had headed toward Hakonesia, Lloyd was fairly certain that he was probably behind the killings. He shook his head as he thought of the horrors Colette must have had to endure traveling with a madman. Why did she have to do this? Why did she throw herself into the Ygg's hands? _It was your fault. Your fault for not recognizing the huge conflict she had to wrestle with: born as the sacrificial heroine to save her world... to a dubious existence._ Yeah, he had to fix this mess.

It wasn't hard to find the still smoking heap that was the south entry point of the Hakonesia Pass. Lloyd hovered over some distance away from the actual area. To his surprise, there seemed to be a lot of people milling around the pass... Were they cleaning, looking, or investigating? Like... _Yuan and everyone else said they were going to do?? _

Not delaying a second, Lloyd floored the pedal and sped north. After a good minute, he finally exhaled. Hopefully they didn't sense his presence if they were actually there. There was no doubt in his mind that if Yuan and company found him, he'd be captured, lectured, and returned to Triet. Colette would be that much closer to death while he sat in his room waiting for all the old farts to get ready...

As he sped along, the cliffs to Lloyd's left abruptly opened up, revealing a deep, narrow fissure in between. A picturesque little town clung against the terraced walls of the chasm. Lloyd quickly swung left and landed on a pathway that led to the town. The sun seemed to have a tougher time shining through the clouds that hovered over the granite canyon, making the valley extremely windy and rather chilly. Thanks also to the yawning abyss that was a huge crack in the ground on his right, Lloyd felt like he was high up in the mountains even though the town was not at that much higher altitude. Time to ask around.

The town called itself Asgard, the City of _Ruins_. Lloyd didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the thought of coming here with Raine. Otherwise, the town greeter gave no other useful information. The travelers and visitors to the town mostly came from neighboring small villages, or had crossed Hakonesia before the incident at the peak. Everyone in town gossiped about it and did not seem at all interested in the possibility of any blue-eyed blondes dressed in white coming through. Lloyd was about to punch the next guy out in frustration when he caught sight of a new group of weary-looking travelers walking into town.

The group of four made it through the gate and immediately went to the town greeter. The smile on the greeter's face dropped in seconds. She quickly rang a large bell that echoed loudly throughout the valley, demanding everyone's attention.

"The Desians are on the move!!" The greeter yelled. Everyone quickly ran over and crowded around the newcomers. Within moments, the travelers were ushered into the inn located at the entrance and were bought drinks. Lloyd fought his way in the door and squeezed his way onto the counter. Stretching his neck, he saw that two of travelers sat at the only table at the inn while the other two leaned against the wall, looking rather tense.

"We just got word that the town of Luin was razed to the ground by Desians and all the folks were rounded up!" One of the travelers at the table said. "Word is, the Desians heard that people have been housing runaways and now they're out for blood!"

_Luin...? _Lloyd racked his brain trying to figure out why he should know that town.

"We just came from Hakonesia and was making our way north to Luin to trade when we met this other group of traders going south—"

"You came up from Hakonesia?" exclaimed one of the townsfolk.

"Yeah, we were lucky ones that crossed the mountain already going north. I know I shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but I tell ya, Koton—that greedy road pass merchant—had it coming for him, charging everyone those prices was bound to get someone angry enough!" Several others were shaking their heads in agreement. Koton treated no one politely, and all who had met or heard of him could not bring themselves to miss him too much. "Anyway, so we were making our way up to Luin and was almost there when this group told us to turn around and run for our lives. Said they themselves just escaped. We didn't need much proof 'cause there was a plume o' smoke rising high and wide above where Luin oughtta be. And everyone knows Asgard Ranch's always after those good folks at Luin. I guess it really was a matter of time." He shook his head sadly.

"Was it just another periodic raid?" someone asked.

"No, the folks heading south said they never saw such a big army of Desians. It was annihilation, they said. It's a mystery why they are going so far this time. Housing runaways was never no new thing." He shook his head again. "So I'm telling you, this ain't no regular raid. Luin has been flattened."

_Luin! Mom's hometown! and Asgard Ranch... was where Mom was prisoner. _Lloyd could feel his face heat up. He remembered the countless times his parents told him to let go of his anger at the Desians, but no matter how he looked at it, the Ranches were the embodiment of pure evil. Because... no matter how forgiving his mother tried to be, Lloyd realized, she never mentioned Luin, or said anything of her past that he could remember. Whatever he knew, was what his father told him that night at Triet—that his mother escaped from the Ranch to Luin only to find her family slaughtered.

Whatever else the newcomers said, Lloyd missed it. The townsfolk were now embroiled in deep discussion regarding town fortifications and strategies. After a few minutes, Lloyd noted that the guests were quietly making their exit. _If they had been going north toward Luin earlier, then maybe..._ He immediately hopped off the table and followed them out.

"Excuse me," Lloyd said, approaching them. "Have you seen two people dressed in white with long blonde hair while you were traveling? At least one of them has blue eyes."

A look of astonished recognition crossed all their faces, making Lloyd's heart jump in hopeful anticipation.

The one that spoke up was one that Lloyd didn't hear speak at the inn. He looked much younger than the other three and he seemed anxious to speak. "W-we did, actually! Ye know 'em? They passed us as we were goin' north to Luin. Goin' real fast. One of them carryin' the other. This was b'fore we met up with the other group that warned us notta go any farther. Funny, yeah, ne'er saw the two of 'em again. Hope they turned around."

"He wasn't too friendly, the guy that was carrying the other like a sack of potatoes. Couldn't be bothered to throw a 'hello' our way," another man added.

"He was a guy?" Lloyd asked, raising an eyebrow. This is definitely the first time Ygg might actually have been referred to as a male...

"Yeah, 'course, can't imagine a woman slingin' another over the shoulder like that," the younger man said, chuckling. "Granted, I wouldn'tve expected a guy so skinny and weak lookin' to be able to do it, but eh, we gotta good look at 'im. Coulda been a woman from behind, I grantcha, but for sure a city kid or somthin'."

"Now, if you'll excuse us," One of the older guys in the group said hurriedly, "We'd better hurry before them Desians get here. If you're smart you'd better go, too—and go south. Going north to chase your friends will only earn you a one-way ticket to the Ranches, ya hear?"

Lloyd chewed his lip a bit. "What about Asgard? You're not gonna stay and help?"

The man snorted. "These people made Asgard their home, son. That comes with the risk of them half-elf scalawags coming to visit when they like. Don't worry about them, they've been through the drill millions of times. They were lucky we even bothered to come warn them and not just run on down south. So, we've helped more than we could possibly do if we stayed. Now if you'll excuse us..."

Lloyd watched them scurry away under the granite welcome gate. Something about that ticked Lloyd off. No one is going to go in the direction of Luin. No one is going to go help those people out. _Fine!_, he thought angrily, _I'll do it_. Then he grinned. _Of course I'll do it, I'm the only one here powerful enough!!_ He gave a last look at the people of Asgard erecting barricades, and walked out the gate. Well, at least they had advanced warning. Maybe when he finishes saving Luin, he'll return and save Asgard as well. Outside the city, he took out his Rheaird and flew north. He couldn't be sure, but a few miles from Asgard, it looked like the trees below him were moving. He sighed.

A few minutes into the flight, Lloyd caught sight of a large plume of smoke in the northwest. It looked like the smoke was coming from a large lake. Drawing nearer, he saw that fire raged through houses built on top of small islands. The bridges that connected the islands together were broken and burning as well. Sounds of buildings collapsing and wood snapping filled the air. As loud as it was, Luin felt as eerily quiet as a tomb.

Bodies littered the pathways and bridges. There didn't seem to be a single living soul in sight. Hovering over the city, Lloyd strained to pick up any living mana signatures, but found none. Not even of those he'd rather not meet. A knot formed in his throat and he tried to swallow it away. The town was empty. The Desian bastards actually did it, they took every single one of the residents away and torched the town to the ground. Lloyd was pretty glad his mom wasn't here, and hoped she wouldn't hear about it... until _after_ he frees them all from Asgard Ranch.

Wiping away tears that Lloyd blamed on the smoke, he turned his Rheaird around and headed northeast, where the Ranch was reported to be. He flew slowly over the trees and grasslands, scanning the area for human and Desian presence. After a few minutes it dawned on him that if he could sense the Desians, then the same bastards might sense him, too, if they were on the lookout. He cast _Incognito_ on himself immediately.

A group of four Desians wheeled a cart with a cage full of people. Six people, human, looking despondent. Lloyd spotted them easily as they were just shy of the forest they were about to enter. When he finally took his eyes from the ground and looked up, the monstrous electric fences of Asgard Ranch could be seen rising up from deep inside the forest. This was by far the largest Ranch he had ever seen, and the size squelched all his heroic ideas of breaking down the front door with an Eruption. Lloyd landed the Rheaird and tossed another round of _Incognito_ on himself, extending the amount of time his own mana signature would be hidden. He estimated that he had about two hours.

The dirt road that led into the forest was comfortably wide enough to fit two guards on either side of the caravan. The forest was thick and lush, affording excellent hiding spots. Lloyd watched and waited, hoping one of the Desians might separate from the group to do his personal business. To his horror, the scumbags always left in pairs—one to guard the other when they did what they needed to do. Too, too smart. Lloyd let out a frustrated sigh as quietly as he could. Maybe it would've been helpful to ask his dad about what he did when he broke his mom out from this same Ranch... _argh!_

Nope. He was gonna figure out something. He wasn't stupid, and he was going to prove it. Not to mention, beating a Desian down and taking his clothes to wear is totally cliché anyway.

But um, what else could he do? It really was too bad he never checked if there was a spell to make him physically invisible. Then again, it would probably be such a high level spell that he wouldn't be able to learn it. How about joining the captives? _No_, he answered immediately. He learned that the hard way by getting an exsphere slapped on him. And now that he _does_ have an exsphere _and_ a keycrest, he would look that much more suspicious. Most troublesome was the fact that all the half-elves could sense that his mana signature was pretty skewed for a human. Then again, as long as they didn't hear anything about his abilities from the Palmacosta Ranch, he should still be good...

"Hey! Trespasser!"

Lloyd nearly jumped out of his skin as an arrow whizzed by, grazing his right ear and cheek. Rapiers out, he whipped around and saw two Desians, one with a sword and one with a bow and another arrow nocked and ready.

_Dammit_! Lloyd swore as he lunged forward angrily, dodging the second arrow. In a flash, he appeared below the bowman's outstretched arms and swung his sword up, slashing across his chest and slicing his bow in half. After body slamming him hard to the ground with his left side, he quickly spun right and engaged the second man's downward cut with an upward swing of both of his own swords. The man bore down hard, but Lloyd easily pushed back and kicked his abdomen, sending the Desian crashing against a tree. Lloyd looked at both knocked out Desians in surprise. _Were Desians always this easy? _

Suddenly, his ears caught sounds of the rustling and shouting of what seemed like many more soldiers coming in his direction. The words were indistinct, but the intent was clear. All the fighting had alerted the soldiers in the area.

* * *

**Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And if you're not celebrating that, have fun anyway!**

**oh and... review? ;) **

**Feedback for this chapter would be really awesome, I hope I gave Lloyd a good show, let me know what you think! Thanks!**


	43. Chapter 43: Infiltration

Hello, folks! Wishing everyone happy holidays wherever you are! I just got bunion surgery on my foot, so it's been fun recuperating. It's a good thing I'm such a computer addict and that the weather outside hasn't been above freezing for a while! Nothing like a good cup of hot chocolate!

This chapter went through a lot of paragraph shuffling, so if anyone notices anything weird, let me know and I'll correct it! Otherwise, enjoy!!

Tales of Symphonia, I do not own.

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 43: Infiltration

Lloyd looked down at the two soldiers he had knocked out on the ground uncertainly. If he left them alive, they would tell the rest of them what he looked like... He took a deep breath, then quickly slit their throats and leapt high into the upper branches of a tree. He felt a little gross. He didn't mind killing monsters, or killing groups of enemies, but consciously finishing one or two off with his sword seemed— _Idiot! You're dressed in bright red_! _This tree's not going to hide you, get out of here—FLY!!_ Lloyd's head snapped up and he looked around wildly before realizing the voices were in his head. This is getting annoying...

...but, they were right. Not that he was an idiot, though.

After checking to see if _Incognito_ was still in place, Lloyd summoned his wings and immediately leapt through the leaves and above the canopy of of the forest. A late afternoon orange sky greeted him, and a sea of green tree tops spread out below him. At about a few hundred yards in front of him rose a tall, deadly wall humming with electricity. To his left, was the path he had been following. On that, the slave caravan continued to trundle along about ten minutes from what looked like a side gate to the Ranch. The sun hung low in the sky behind him.

Lloyd flew higher, and once he cleared the fence, the compound spread before him like a disease. A horrible acrid smell suddenly blew up into his face, nearly knocking him off balance as he struggled to make a mask out of his undershirt. Sewage? ...no, worse. Then he realized it was most likely just the overall stench of the place, massive BO included. He remembered that the Iselian Ranch smelled pretty bad as well, but nothing like this. Like at the Iselian Ranch, He saw that men, women, and children alike had formed something of a line that circled the building and were pushing large heavy cargo boxes. Unlike the Iselian Ranch, the central building that the people had to circle around was at least twice as big. The yelling and the cracking of whips were just as constant. How many people are in this Ranch? About two hundred? Three hundred? Did this even include the Luinians that were recently brought in? Most likely... not. Luin looked like a population of oh, maybe a hundred people. If even that much... Lloyd floated still higher to see behind the building.

Now that he had a full view of the compound, he saw that the yard extended further in the back. The afternoon shadow of the building all but obscured the area. Lloyd could only make out four large holes dug in the ground and more Desian guards standing off to the side.

Another gust of sour-smelling wind blew in his face, and he tightened his grip on the filter he made out of shirt.

A siren sounded briefly. Lloyd nearly jumped out of his skin, what the hell—did someone see him?! He'd even made sure to make his wings as modest as possible. But, no one in the compound seemed alarmed at all. The guard towers he'd noticed earlier still looked empty. Then he saw that a large door on the side facing him slowly slid open and a couple guards came out and flanked the doorway. A siren for the end of the day?

The slaves that were pushing the boxes stepped to the left of their boxes and lined up next to the building wall. Those the guards thought moved a second too slow got several whiplashes as encouragement. People seemed to be coming out of the four pits in the back as well and were trudging toward the building. He needed to make a move. That door looked big enough for a large caravan, he might be able to zip in there and find a place to hide... surely, no one suspects anyone to invade by air?

The prisoners trudged dejectedly through the door from both sides. A Desian on either side of the door stayed busy yelling, poking, and pushing each person. Lloyd squinted into the dark, poorly list room they entered and noticed that it was some kind of large storeroom of cargo boxes and strange equipment. Definitely places to hide.

Another round of _Incognito_ for the win. Then Lloyd took a deep breath and started muttering a spell under his breath. The large gate on the right. Looks like the front gate... Can he hit it from this far? Yes, he can. "Eruption!" He screamed in a strained whisper.

The ground below the front gate erupted upwards, spilling magma and cracking the surrounding walls. A couple guards caught in the spell screamed, turning all heads to the gate. There was then something of a shocked silence, and finally the alarms went off. Desians spilled out of the building and headed for the front gate. The two guards that were in charge of herding the slaves immediately took it upon themselves to restore order by whipping those who looked a bit too hopeful. A few prisoners tried to take advantage of the situation and run off, but the majority stayed frozen.

Lloyd quickly took the opportunity and shot as fast as he could for the door, dove right under the door header, and zipped left behind the highest stacked box. His heart pounded uncontrollably as he listened intently for anyone who might have noticed. The room, however, had exploded into a buzz of excited prisoners and angry Desians trying to keep order. He breathed a sigh of relief and regretted it immediately. Oh Martel, the stench is even worse in here...

"What d'you reckon this is all about, Mack? Cardinal Pronyma's just sent three squads to guard the Lab... and now they want us, too. What're we gonna do about these animals runnin' wild?"

"Hell if I care, they're so weak they can't do anything anyway. I did hear the reserve security team is taking over for us, those losers. C'mon, we need to catch up with the others, let's go."

Lloyd whipped around the crate and looked down below at the mass of prisoners for the guards he had overheard. Oddly enough, he couldn't find any Desians at all. The prisoners were still slowly shuffling through the inner doors as if they were being forced to. Lloyd looked at the doors to the outside where the slaves were still filing in from. Outside the doors, a group of Desian troops walked past his line of vision. So the way _in_ was unguarded?? He looked at the smaller inner doors again. No one was there. Well, those doors weren't big enough for him to easily fly over everyone's heads...

_How about you take off your key crest?_

What?

_It's the only way for you to blend in with the prisoners and get through the door._

What the hell, I'll go crazy again thanks to you guys and mess everything up! Hell, no!

_It worked last time..._

Yeah, and if Zelos and Sheena weren't there to save the prisoners they all woulda just died along with the compound. No.

_But you'd be so much stronger, and it's not like you would have no control, we're all in it together! This is the worst Ranch, it has to go down now!_

Lloyd made a face. I don't think you guys can control me very well since you're not me. Anyway, we're here to save the prisoners first, then take down the Ranch afterwards, got that?

_Absolutely, just know that if you're in a pinch—_

Leave it to me, guys, if I need extra help, I'll ask for it.

Now, about the door... he decided he was going to keep his wings on and... wing it. _That was horrible... _Shut it.

Lloyd hopped down from the crates, using his wings to soften his landing. He repressed an urge to gag at how concentrated the stench was on ground level. He shuffled behind the crates trying to find an opening wide enough for him between the boxes. The inner door was only a few steps away. But first, he had to get through the line of people. Lloyd tiptoed forward, catching the startled attention of a couple slaves. He immediately put a finger to his lips, shaking his head agitatedly.

"An angel!" People whispered and pointed.

"No!" Lloyd yelled back in a whisper. "Secret, secret! I'm here to help, let me get in. Tell everyone this is a secret!!"

Lloyd made a show of dissolving his wings. The people he saw through the small opening looked way too excited, but at least they waved him forward quietly.

"The Goddess Martel heard us? Are we saved?" asked an old man behind him in barely a whisper. He looked so hopeful, that Lloyd almost felt bad for acting like some actual angel. "I'm here to help." He repeated ambiguously.

A woman in front of him turned around and looked at him skeptically. "The guards up ahead just left for some reason, it's a good time for you to get in. How will you help us??"

"Um... I was going to go try to shut down the boss of this place first..."

"Hm, well you look holy enough, though I don't know why the good Goddess couldn't have sent someone earlier."

Lloyd raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "The Goddess has her reasons... I guess..."

An older woman squeezed herself forward and looked at him with a desperate, pleading look. "Have you come to save us?" Lloyd nodded. "Then, you must save the Chosen! When I was out there today, I heard that the Chosen herself was caught a few days ago. In fact, I heard she has been forced to work in the _pits_! Please! You need to save her first!"

Lloyd stared at her in disbelief, resisting an urge to grip the woman's shoulders and start shaking her. "Are you SURE she's here? Do you know where she could be? Is she still outside?"

"I didn't work in the pits today, sir... Those that work in the pits come in last. I'd overhead the pit manager when I was pushing on that side."

A young man chimed in. "I heard those scumbags here talk about having to leave to guard the Lab! Maybe the Chosen's in there!"

"Okay," Lloyd said, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "So you guys sit tight, and when I get business taken care of, I'll come back for you guys. I don't know how long it will take for me to find the Chosen, but I guarantee I'll be back for you guys. But please, don't talk about me or anything, 'kay?"

"Of course... Anyway, after the door, we head left toward the prison cells. I can only assume the right hallways leads deeper into the Ranch."

Lloyd nodded in thanks and did his best to shake the endless amounts of hands that came his way. Suddenly he froze. A Desian signature straight up ahead. A frenzy of whispers made their way to him and warned him about a guard that just showed up.

Lloyd suddenly smiled. "Excellent. I'm taking his clothes!" But, as soon as he said that, the people in front of him immediately bum-rushed the guard and held him down. He stared dumbfounded, as they handed the unconscious guard through the crowd and chucked him in between some boxes. "You didn't need to do that..."

"Hurry!!!" They whispered urgently. Not wasting a second, Lloyd muttered a thanks, quickly dived into the narrow space, and stripped the man down. Then he quickly threw the man into a box with an open top and heard a soft plop. After donning the Desian's helmet, outfit, and boots, he put his own clothes into his own bag of infinite depth. He took the man's whip as well for the hell of it, but kept his own swords.

"Alright, guys, let me through, I'm ready!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mithos walked down the halls of Triet base, a cup of mocha in hand. He really had to hand it to Lloyd. That boy had outwitted everyone and escaped _again_, much to the immense chagrin of the adults around him. When Yuan and Raine came back from their initial crime scene investigation date at Hakonesia, they caught a fuming Anna just in time before she successfully boarded a Rheaird herself to go search for Lloyd herself.

Over breakfast, they agreed to wait out a day and see if Lloyd wasn't going to come back on his own. But an hour into that, they found Anna outside with her Rheaird again. Finally, Raine and Sheena suggested that they go to Lake Umacy and see if they can't get Anna back on her feet. She balked at the thought of having neither Kratos nor Lloyd there with her to share such a special moment, but after a while, she gave in.

It was now, roughly ten minutes after they left, that Mithos and Yuan received word that Kratos and Regal had reached the Flanoir base.

Mithos turned a corner and knocked on the door to Yuan's study. Yuan immediately opened the door and followed Mithos wordlessly to the warp room.

"Stupid." He finally bit out. Mithos only nodded and sighed.

Yuan was mildly surprised when a girl with pink hair warped in with Kratos and Regal. His mood was so foul, however, that he only raised an eyebrow. Mithos walked forward with an uneasy grin. "Welcome back, Kratos, Regal, and...?"

"This is Presea," Regal said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Hi, Presea." She didn't smile.

Cheery, Mithos thought.

Yuan wasted no time in filling them in about the current situation. Kratos looked shocked and hurt when he heard that Anna had taken off for Lake Umacy with Raine and Sheena. This surprised Mithos since the man usually displayed no emotion whatsoever.

"They just left? I apologize, but I must leave now," Kratos said stiffly and made for the door without another word.

Regal nodded in understanding and called after him. "Kratos! On your behalf, I will bring back the other two items and drop off the materials for the Ring of the Pact at Altessa's!"

Yuan and Mithos whipped their heads around. "You succeeded in getting sacred wood?!" Regal nodded as Presea produced a heavy bundle of wood from behind her.

"You and Mithos should go on and follow Kratos. If you tell me where the other two items are, I promise to do my part to the best of my ability."

Kratos turned around and walked back to the room, looking impatient. "We should have enough for multiple tries, if it doesn't work." He turned to Yuan and Mithos who looked confused. "Altessa is another dwarf that I found who resides in Tethe'alla. It was my plan to have Regal bring back enough for him to forge a ring. Then I will bring materials for Dirk to do the same. Then if one goes wrong, we will have another. And if both work out, then that would be more than ideal."

"I see, good thinking." Yuan said as he sized up Regal and the new girl. Regal was noble to a fault, so entrusting the three most important things in the world was not a problem... as for the stoic, unsmiling girl, it seems Regal is taking care of her... Yuan ran off to his study. A few minutes later he was back with adamantite and Aionis. "Should this be enough...?"

"Thank you, yes, then we will head back now," Regal replied. "We wish you luck with your present situation." Presea stepped forward and gave her bundle of sacred wood to Yuan.

"Don't you..." Yuan started.

"I can always obtain more. This shall be for your own needs." Presea replied rigidly.

"Well, thanks." What an odd little girl, she wasn't so bad.

Thus, Regal and Presea warped back to Tethe'alla and made their way to Altessa's while Kratos, Yuan, and Mithos quickly made their way to the hangars to chase after Anna.

"Well, well, looks like the old group's more or less back together, eh?" Yuan said as they walked down the hall. Mithos smiled, but Kratos didn't say anything.

"Don't worry, Kratos, we're all here for you! Your family troubles are our family troubles!"

Kratos sighed deeply.

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_Comment!_


	44. Chapter 44: The Tipping Point

**Hello all, to the next installment! **

**Something to clarify: I don't entirely recall the explanations behind the mana tree and stuff in the game, and this is not meant to be completely faithful to the game's history... sooo please enjoy!!!**

**Never did, never will own Symphonia.  
**

* * *

The Origin of Hope

Chapter 44: The Tipping Point

Lloyd walked fast, but kept himself from breaking into a full run and calling attention to himself. He may be dressed in a Desian outfit, but if anyone noticed, they'd probably wonder why he has no mana signature. So far, the Desians he had seen had taken no heed of him as they hurried to their designated stations. From the snippets of conversation Lloyd heard, it seems the Eruption he had let loose on their front gate was the first attack they've experienced in decades. Though the last drill the troops had taken part in was only a few months ago—enacted soon after Lloyd had utterly destroyed Palmacosta Ranch—no one actually remembered what they were supposed to do...

And that suited Lloyd just fine. This layout of this place was a sprawling mess, and nearly every door he's opened either led to another hallway, or a storage room. Finally, he just flagged down a harried soldier and asked him where the Lab was.

"New here?"

"Er, yeah... I just can't get this place figured out..." Lloyd said, shrugging.

"Well, that's a hard place to find anyway, it's located in that hidden section. You gotta go down to the basement first. So turn back down this hall, hang a left, go down to the basement, make a left and then two rights. That'll bring you to some stairs. Then I'm not even sure where it is, sorry bud."

"Hey, no that's awesome, thanks so much, that helps enough already. Er, excuse me, but I gotta run!"

"Sure, sounds like you're late. Don't get killed by your sarge!"

Lloyd forced a laugh and waved as he ran off.

After making to the basement floor and turning left, large double doors on the right caught his attention.

_Rm 23: Grade 2 Exsphere Disassembly_

Other rooms down the hallway were just as similar, except they dealt with other grades of expsheres. No peepholes, no windows... no one here in the hallways. What was a disassembly room? He put his ear against the door and heard nothing. Slowly, he opened the door and saw that the lights were on. A foul odor lingered in the air, making Lloyd grab for his shirt—except... the Desian uniform was form fitting and there wasn't enough extra material to bunch into a nice filter. Lloyd held his breath instead and walked in the room.

Dead bodies lay stiffly on steel tables throughout the small room. Beside them were various instruments and a small bin. A large chute in the far corner of the room looked like it emptied into a large container. Next to the container was the hole of another chute going down. A large clawed crane hung above that chute. Lloyd stood, paralyzed by the sight. The room was unnaturally silent, making the thumping of his heart that much louder. The air felt thick and stagnant—almost tangible. He wanted to turn right back around and run, but he stayed rooted to the ground. He had to look around. He had to understand what was going on. He had to...

Lloyd forced his right leg to move, then his left. He couldn't unstick his head, but his eyes moved and took it all in. A trash can coming up to his right. But definitely not a trash can... because it was full of deep blue jewels—exspheres! A sallow, rigid body lay on the table to his left. It was right next to him, contorted and desiccated. Something small sparkled. Lloyd swallowed hard, and willed his head to turn. Old, rusted instruments, he saw, lay next to the man's left hand. A blue exsphere was in the process of being gouged out by a spoon-like tool while clamps kept the skin away. Various scalpels lay scattered around, catching the dull, florescent light of the panels above. It looked like a dreary, macabre process.

Another few steps forward. He could really use a breath of fresh air... but, he continued to hold his breath. He made it to the end of the room, and looked into the large container. Bodies lay crumpled together in a heap at the bottom, arms twisted and legs entwined. He knew it was going to be unpleasant, but this was simply too much. In his shock and disgust, he sucked in some air, and immediately gagged on the acrid, poisonous odor. The room spun, the bodies seemed to come alive...

What is this...what, what—

_Lloyd!!!! Get ahold of yourself! Get out of this room! _

What...

_Listen! Left foot forward! Now, right foot..._

Then before he knew it, the door banged closed behind him, and Lloyd found himself in the hallway again. He blinked rapidly, and realized he had made it out. He took a deep breath of the less offensive air of the hallway. As the haze cleared from his head and left behind a pounding headache, he noticed that there was actually a cabinet of gas masks in front of him...

_Focus, Lloyd!_

Lloyd jerked his head up.

_Down the hall, hang a right, then hang another right and go up the stairs! GO! We need to find Colette!_

He took off in a run.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Anna sat nestled in front of Raine and her Rheaird, while Sheena flew close behind on her own. They decided to approach Lake Umacy by going northwest of Triet Base. This would afford them a view of the Balacruf Mausoleum Ruins as they passed it by—no doubt something Raine had thought of when she recommended the route. Thankfully when they passed by, Raine only slowed down and ogled at the ancient ruins from the air, then pushed on forward through the eastern mountains.

The lake lay in the remote eastern forests of the Northern Continent. A small mountain range flanked the eastern border of the lake, and the shadowy peaks of Hakonesia can be seen rising to the south. It was a beautiful, undisturbed land that lay a fair distance off the main road that connected Palmacosta up through Hakonesia Pass, to Asgard and Luin. The road extended further west of Luin, through wilderness Anna had traversed with Kratos when she escaped from the Asgard Human Ranch so long ago. Based on the map they had perused before they left, it seemed Lake Umacy did not lie that far south of the Ranch. Anna involuntarily shuddered at the reminder of that death factory, which apparently still thrived more than ten years on.

"Do you see that, Anna? There's something white down in the lake."

They were now hovering above a large, shimmering lake. The waters were unbelievably clear, but in the dark depths of the water lay something shockingly white. The gentle waves of the water kept shifting the shape of the object; and after a couple more minutes of squinting and guessing, they landed on the closest shore.

"Only one way to find out, right?" Sheena said brightly as she hopped off her Rheaird. She walked around and helped Raine carry Anna down to sit on a large rock. "By the way, Raine... you're going to talk to the Unicorn, right?"

Raine smiled widely, and a wild gleam appeared in her eyes. "Sure, you don't want to? It's an incredible opportunity..."

"Er, no, not really... I don't think I'd know what to say to... it." Sheena replied, laughing awkwardly.

"You can still come with me to witness it! After all, this is absolutely extraordin—"

"I don't want to leave Anna alone out here though..." Sheena said, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. She glanced at Anna, who looked as if she were going to say something but thought better of it.

"True, true... This is unbelievable, though! A rare chance for me to study a real unicorn up close! Due to the lack of evidence and reliable reports, I always thought they were mythical—"

"Well," Sheena cut in. "Let me make sure it _is_ a unicorn." She raised her hands and started the invocation. "Undine! Please create a clear path for us to walk toward the _unicorn_ at the bottom of the lake!"

Water surged up from the lake and split, suspending a blob of water in the air. The blob quickly took the shape of a woman and became opaque. The water spirit Undine soon solidified, the gentle smile never absent from her lips. She raised her hands and placed her fingertips together, then slowly she spread her hands apart. A whirlpool appeared at the edge of the lake, spiraling in and creating a large dry tunnel along the lakebed. The displaced water of the lake rocked and crashed against the shores, soaking Anna and everyone else. Within a few minutes, however, the waters had calmed unnaturally fast, and the deafening sound of the displaced water had quieted. With a flick of her hand, Undine dried the three women's soaking wet hair and clothes. "_The unicorn slumbers, awaiting one of purity to receive its blessing. Take heed, it will not wake for those impure. Now go, the way is clear."_

Suddenly, there was a cackle of excited laughter, and Raine was gone. Anna and Sheena stared after her in bewilderment, wondering just how mentally stable she really was.

Once Raine entered the tunnel, her eyes grew twice their size as she slowed to a walk. _Exquisite!_ The sunlight shone through the watery ceiling, reflecting constantly shifting light on the sandy tunnel path. She poked her hand through the wall of water to try to touch a fish swimming by, and realized that she could fall through the wall and into the lake if she lost her footing on some wet, mossy rock. The thought made her feel seasick already, so she focused her attention back to the upcoming unicorn.

_Meanwhile..._

Anna, Sheena, and Undine had sat down around some rocks chatting away when Undine suddenly pointed at the eastern mountains. A Rheaird had emerged between two peaks of the eastern mountains and was heading straight for them. Sensing that an awkward situation was coming up, Undine quickly told Sheena to call on her again after Raine comes back out. Then she bowed and took her leave, fading back into mist.

"Kratos!" Anna cried in disbelief as he landed.

Kratos said nothing as he disembarked and made his way over to the three women. He looked as stoic as ever, though a slight crease in his eyebrows belied his calm exterior. "Where's Raine?" he asked. Anna and Sheena pointed at the tunnel in the lake. "So... why now, of all times? I just got back from Tethe'alla not fifteen minutes after which I heard you all left."

Anna sighed. "Have you heard about Lloyd?"

"Yes, I did. And where were you planning to go to chase him?"

"He said he was going to Palmacosta, so that was where I was going to go first."

Kratos picked his way over the rocks and made himself comfortable next to Anna. "Whatever the case, Yuan picked up some interesting information when he went to investigate the incident at Hakonesia. He came across at least three people who have reportedly seen a pair of very pretty blonde-haired girls in white traveling north. I have every reason to believe Yggdrassil may be one of those 'girls', and Colette, the other. If Lloyd had somehow come across these rumors as well, then I have no doubt he has gone in search of Colette. Yuan did say he has been very worked up over her since she disappeared."

"So where do you think Lloyd is now?" Sheena asked.

"At this point, it's too early to say. We will need to gather more information ourselves after this."

"How was your mission in Tethe'alla?" Anna asked as she rested her hand on his shoulder, and felt all her troubles lighten with his presence. He smiled slightly, which made her feel even better.

"I returned with Regal and a girl named Presea who helped us acquire sacred wood. As you know, this means we finally have all three materials to make the ring. Yuan and Mithos are on their way to Dirk's as we speak. When I was in Tethe'alla we found another very skilled dwarf, so Regal and Presea have gone back to forge a second ring from him, just in case."

Anna and Sheena stared at Kratos in wide-eyed awe. "We're so close to the end!!" Sheena exclaimed.

Anna, however, looked downcast. "The ring will be ready soon... but there is still so much evil left to purge before we reunite the worlds..."

Kratos shook his head slowly as he looked up at the sky, sighing. "The two worlds that exist today were once their own hemispheres. The lands will not shift too much. Evils left before reunification can still be purged in the new world. However, of greater import right now, concerns the Seed and soul that holds these two worlds together."

"Freeing Martel..." Anna said, looking up.

Kratos nodded. "Mithos—rather, Yggdrassil—fixed her soul, contained in her Cruxis Crystal, to the Mana Seed to keep her soul alive. Thus, the Seed lived on a dearth of Mana, ever cycling what was left between the two smaller worlds. Before we call upon the Eternal Sword to activate the Mana within the Seed to grow, we must release Martel from her prison."

"You mean... kill Martel??" Sheena cried.

Kratos shook his head. "Martel has long since left this mortal coil. Only her consciousness is left, forever awake in the Crystal—unable to sleep, unable to move on. It is a terrible existence she never wanted."

Sheena sighed, as she rubbed her temples. "And... Ygg, of course, wants to revive Martel in Colette's body."

"Yes, and in order for that to succeed, he must utilize all of the Seed's remaining mana."

"Wait, then...!" Sheena cried, jumping up.

"Yes, both worlds will wither away and we will all wither away with it," Kratos said dryly.

"Why didn't you tell us this earlier!!"

Kratos shot her weary look. "We underestimated Yggdrassil's obsession. Also, Colette did not even have a Cruxis Crystal embedded in her yet when she was taken. For her to a be ready vessel, it should take quite a long time. By then, we should be able to free Martel and reunite the worlds. It was simply... something that became clearer as events unfolded."

Anna suddenly went rigid. "Kratos... I think I know where Colette must be. Asgard... She must be at Asgard Ranch..."

Kratos looked slightly confused as he looked at the blood draining from Anna's face.

"Think," Anna pressed. "When Kvar wanted to speed up the growth of my Cruxis Crystal, he did everything he could think of to put me over the emotional edge. If Colette's Crystal works the same way, then a Ranch would be the fastest way to make it grow."

Sheena put her hands to her mouth. "But wait! Don't Chosens have to go through some ritual??"

Kratos knitted his eyebrows as he shook his head. "Remember, that was only a cover up. They can't very well throw the Chosen in a Ranch, that would go against the story they fed everyone—about how the success of the Chosen would rid the world of Desians. Thus, they covered it up with the pretense of fighting Seal guardians. The emotional upheaval from such a long journey would presumably do the job. However, Yggdrassil is now so desperate, he could care less what the world thinks now. You're right, Anna, based on reports of blonds in white heading north, that must be his destination... and the reason he was heading north was because he must have gone to Palmacosta Ranch first and found it in ruins... And, the reason he has to travel by foot is because Mithos has been focusing on strengthening his hold on the Summon Spirits—namely, Asuka—successfully keeping them from Yggdrassil's control... Ah, it makes sense now..."

"Oh Martel..." Sheena mumbled. "I don't get it, but I get it. We either need to stop the Ygg and save Colette, or get to Martel first, right?"

"More or less, yes. At this point, we may have a chance at doing the former sooner," Kratos said.

"Hmm, interesting. I understand now," a fourth voice said, causing everyone but Kratos to jump. Raine was standing behind Anna; and holding a long, pearly horn of the unicorn.

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Zelos jolted awake. Sirens wailed mercilessly, and his walls were bathed in the red of the alarm. Where was he? Hell?? He shook his head to clear the drunken haze and immediately jumped out of bed. He was definitely in his room in Triet. He quickly threw on his clothes, grabbed his sword, and opened the door to even louder wailings of sirens. Genis stood further down the hall, frozen in complete confusion.

"_...Alarm Red: Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert! All S units report to the main Triet hall, repeat, all S units report to the main Triet hall! Alarm Red: Intruder Alert..."_

Zelos ran over to Genis, who was still rooted to the spot. "C'mon, let's go! We got baddies to fight!" He took Genis' arm and dragged him a few feet.

"I get it, I get it!" Genis cried, snapping out of his stupor. "Hold on, lemme go back to my room to get my kendama!"

"Hurry up!"

A blast rocked the complex, making the ceiling lights flicker momentarily. Zelos ran back into his room and dug up his shield. For good measure, he grabbed his stash of gels as well. When Zelos met up with Genis again, he asked where Raine and everyone was.

"I dunno! No one's here, though! I'd spent the last couple hours scouring the place searching for everybody! Raine did leave me a note saying she, Sheena, and Anna are off to find the unicorn. I dunno why now of all times... and I dunno where Lloyd is, where Mithos is, or _anyone else!"_

"It's okay, bud, we'll get through this..." Zelos said as they ran down the hallway to the door that led out to the main corridor. The main hall was located at the opposite end of the large, circular building from their living quarters. Soldiers were filing out of other side halls, weapons at the ready. Zelos and Genis joined one of the squads and ran left.

"Sirs, please return to the living quarters! Blast doors will be activated in five minutes. We cannot allow the Chosen to be endangered!" A Renegade captain cried as he kept abreast of Zelos. Zelos stared back at the man in disbelief.

"Dude, don't worry, we got crazier skills than all of you guys. You guys are gonna need _our_ help, got it? And Genis here is the resident offensive magic _prodigy! _We'll be fine, my good man!"

The captain could only nod stiffly as he fell back to lead his unit.

"Zelos!" Genis cried, and suddenly skidded to a halt. "Oh Martel—that signature, do you feel it?? It's Yggdrassil!!"

Just then, the walls to their left suddenly blasted inward, burying the soldiers closest to the wall. Zelos and Genis had thrown up a defensive shield, but as it dissipated, a winged, blonde-haired adult in white stepped on top of the rubble.

"It seems I have finally found your little hideout. All thanks to my search for this." In his left hand, held a grisly, pulsating sword of fathomless evil—the Soul Eater.

* * *

**Happy New Years everyone! **

**review, please! =)**


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